Eid side-effects: Over 5,000 suffer from stomach-related sicknesses

Weather pattern, over-eating, unhygienic food among main reasons

ISLAMABAD:

The major public hospitals of Islamabad received over 5,000 patients suffering from various stomach-related illnesses from chand raat till the third day of Eid.

The emergency departments remained flooded with patients and hospitals faced shortage of beds while cancelling leaves of medical staff.



According to data collected by The Express Tribune, the capital’s largest public hospital, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) received over 3,700 patients including 400 children, suffering from gastroenteritis while Polyclinic received over 2,000 patients.

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Talking to The Express Tribune, Dr Waseem Khawaja, a senior gastroenteritis specialist at Pims, said patients came with the complaint of severe stomach ache, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration and fever. “There was an emergency like situation in the hospital. Majority of them were admitted and later discharged,” he said.

Most of the patients said they had consumed food from outside and some ate more than they could take in. “The major reason behind the number of patients suffering from gastroenteritis was eating unhygienic food or drinking contaminated water,” he said. Dr Khawaja further said after Ramazan people ate a lot more which also affected their digestive system.

Meanwhile, Dr Tanveer Malik, spokesperson at Polyclinic, said the hospital also received a few patients who suffered from heat stroke. “They were severely dehydrated and suffered from headache and fever,” he said. The weather in twin cities remained humid and hot which also contributed in worsening the health condition of a person who was already suffering from other diseases, he added.

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Weather

Weather remained hot and humid in twin cities during all three days of Eid. However, a few places received intermittent light rain which turned the weather pleasant.



According to the Met Office, the humidity level in Islamabad and Rawalpindi was recorded at 70 per cent. Meanwhile, on the second day of Eid, 110 millimeters of rain was recorded in Rawalpindi. The same weather pattern will continue for almost a week, according to Met officials.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 21^st, 2015.