KABUL (SW) – Officials at the Indira Gandhi children’s hospital in Kabul say that compared to the last month, the number of children with diarrhea has increased by more than 40%.
Payanda Mohammad Salehi, the OPD department manager at Indira Gandhi children’s hospital, told Salam Watandar that more than 100 children with diarrhea come to this hospital every day, and some of them are hospitalized for treatment. He added: “Earlier we had two percent of patients with diarrhea, now the number of these patients has increased. We admit patients with severe diarrhea, dehydration and vomiting. Otherwise, we will give medicine to keep them under care at home.”
On the other hand, Ferishta Farahmand, the head of the diarrhea department at the Indira Gandhi children’s hospital, said that they admit nearly 25 children with diarrhea every day. He added: “In the last three weeks, the number of children we admit has increased. We had eight incidents a day. We admit children under the age of five, some of these patients come from the provinces, but most of them are from Kabul.”
Meanwhile, a number of mothers whose children are hospitalized, said that their children have been suffering from diarrhea for several days. Maryam, whose three-year-old child has diarrhea, said that her child has been admitted to this hospital for a week. She added: “We were taken to another hospital, he stayed there for two nights. But it didn’t work and we brought him here. When the doctors saw, they said that he should be hospitalized. At first, he had diarrhea, fever and nausea. He still hasn’t gotten better.”
Doctors say that the warming of the air, the transmission of the viruses to the child’s body, and the lack of compliance with children’s hygiene are among the reasons for the increase in diarrhea in children. Recently, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that it has prepared to treat 137,000 people in case of “acute watery diarrhea” in the summer season across Afghanistan.
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