60 dead in Bangladesh flooding, water-borne diseases spread as waters start receding

Water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea, skin diseases, eye infection, respiratory problems are spreading with receding flood waters.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 3 August 2016, 03:07 PM
Updated : 3 August 2016, 03:07 PM

The Directorate General of Health Services said on Wednesday at least 60 people, including many children, died in the flood in past nine days.

The reasons behind the deaths included drowning and snakebite.

Around 3,500 people have been affected by diseases.

The National Health Crisis Management Centre’s control room said a team of 700 health workers were deployed in the affected areas.

Dr Sakhawat Hossain at the control room said the affected people ‘badly’ needed drinking water and saline as well as treatment.

He said most of 643 affected by diseases were diarrhoea patients.

He said no-one had died from the diseases until then.

“Most of those died in past nine days are children. Ten people drowned in past 24 hours.”

Officials said Essential Drugs Company had been asked to produce and store some hundred thousand water purification tablets to deal with eventuality.

According to the Department of Disaster Management (DDM), over 685,000 families in 16 districts have been hit by the flood.

Of them, over 15,000 families have lost their homes to river erosion.

DDM official Saleh Uddin said they were distributing rice, packaged dry food, and molasses among the people.

Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said the situation in the northern districts was improving, but remained unchanged in the central districts.