The number of patients with viral fever has suddenly increased in Dhaka and several other districts, putting many of the patients’ families in immense financial hardships.

In the last two weeks alone, admissions to government hospitals in the capital with such symptoms have increased by more than 14%, said sources. In many cases, several members of the same family are falling sick at the same time, as a result of which they are going through a severe storm in life.

Doctors say that in many cases the patients suffer from seasonal viral fever, but infections of dengue and Chikungunya are also spreading together, causing more complications for the patients.

While some people are visiting doctors’ private chambers for treatment, others are being admitted to hospitals in emergency situations. Visits to various government and private hospitals in the capital show different scenarios in terms of healthcare quality and costs.

“Nurses take care of patients all the time. Doctors are also available for regular check-ups. They provide injections, medicines and saline themselves. But the cost is a bit high – beyond what I can easily afford,” said Md Alamgir, whose daughter Farjana (9)  has the symptoms of Chikungunya after admitting her to AMZ Hospital, a private hospital in North Badda, Dhaka.

He further said, “I admitted my daughter to a private hospital for a better treatment, so she could recover quickly and go home. But the cost is beyond my budget.”

In the last four days, his expenses including bed rent, medicines, tests and food amounted to around Tk24,000. Alamgir, who is an employee of a private organisation, is struggling to provide such a high medical cost.

When the Daily Sun talked with a hospital employee, they said, “Most of the private hospitals like us charge Tk2,200  for a general bed per day, while cabin rent ranges from Tk3,000 to Tk8,000.”

In the last two months, about 400 patients, including nearly 100 children have been admitted to the hospital with viral fever. Usually, middle-class families take treatment at such private clinics.

However, for the lower and lower-middle class people of the society, admitting patients in such private hospitals is beyond their dreams.

Mohammad Faruk Hossain, a 40-year-old electrician who lives in Dhaka’s Bhasantek area, was already struggling to run his family, and his miseries increased over the past seven days, as he has been undergoing treatment for dengue at Kurmitola General Hospital (KGH) in Dhaka.

With his very limited income, admitting himself to a private hospital for better facilities was never an option.

In seven days, his medical costs, including blood tests and other examinations,amounted to only around Tk1,100-1,200. But since he is the only earning member of his family, his family is going through a very difficult time.

In the bed next to him was 71-year-old Mohammad Nazrul Islam from Khilkhet, Dhaka. Admitted for the last nine days, he was suffering from dengue as well as other health complications. His condition required several tests, including blood tests and a CT scan, which raised his expenses to around Tk12,000 so far.

Another 76-year-old dengue patient in the ward shared that he too had spent about Tk15,000 due to numerous tests. While most medical tests were done inside KGH, certain tests such as Blood Culture and Sensitivity or Urine Culture and Sensitivity, had to be conducted at Dhaka’s Combined Military Hospital (CMH), pushing the cost a bit higher.

It became clear that expenses tend to be higher for elderly patients. As a result, the savings their families had kept for other purposes are being spent on the treatment of the elderly patients.

Mohammad Nazrul Islam’s son, Kabir Islam, expressed his grief to the Daily Sun by stating that his son’s private tuition fees for this month have not yet been paid and he does not think he will be able to pay them this month.

Talking to most families, they said that once one member gets sick, other members also become infected.        

According to KGH authorities, 1-2 new patients with dengue or other viral fevers are admitted almost every day. At present, the medicine department’s male ward has 11 dengue patients, while the female ward has 4.

When asked about chikungunya cases, they said a few patients had shown similar symptoms but none had been confirmed positive yet.

When the Daily Sun asked public health expert Benazir Ahmed about the current situation, he said, “The dengue situation has not yet worsened to a severe level, but our concern lies elsewhere. Patients are now being reported from different parts of the country. In the past, the dengue spread was mainly Dhaka-centric, but that is no longer the case.”

When the Daily Sun asked him whether there had been any preventive initiative from the government, he replied, “Yes, but only on paper. These are not enough, because prevention requires technical measures and some technical experts. Those experts are entomologists and along with them, an entomology laboratory is needed. We have neither. It is not possible to build an effective prevention system with ordinary mosquito control workers alone.”

The reporters can be reached at: [email protected] and [email protected]

Edited by Mohammad Mamunur Rashid