ISLAMABAD, June 5: Since March 1, about 10,000 patients have visited the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) with the complaint of gastroenteritis.

Doctors say the basic reason behind the increasing number of such patients is consumption of contaminated water and unhygienic food.

Dr Waseem Ahmed, the spokesman for Pims, who is also a gastroenterologist, told Dawn that in the urban areas drinking water got mixed with sewage due to leakage in the pipelines passing parallel to each other.

In rural areas, sewage is absorbed in the land because of the absence of a proper drainage system and it contaminates the underground water used by the people for drinking purposes.

A large number of patients who were brought to the emergency department of Pims were severely dehydrated.

However, most of them were discharged after treatment, he said.

Dr Waseem said gastro was caused by the bacteria and it resulted in an acute form of diarrhoea and vomiting.

The patient usually takes one to six days to recover. School-going children are particularly at the high risk of the disease because they take substandard food and drinks sold on the roadsides.

Besides, reheated meat dishes, bakery products and improperly prepared food can also cause gastro.

A gastro patient can be treated by supplementing them for water lost water from the body.

Oral re-hydration is the best way to restore the normal level of water, especially among children, he said.

“The best prevention against gastro is improved sanitation. Food should be properly cooked and stored. Junk food and drinks should be avoided. Hands should be washed before eating anything and after using the bathroom,” Dr Waseem said.

He added that boiled water should be used for drinking to prevent gastro and people should avoid working in direct sunlight in the summer heat.

Malik Irfan, the father of a child, said his son was having vomiting and loose motions for the last over one week. “I visited the hospital where the doctor recommended entamezole syrup, gravinade and influre powder. They also suggested giving him ORS but he could not recover so I once again visited the doctor,” he said.

“Because of vomiting, he had lost weight, so on Saturday the doctor administered him a drip of glucose to restore the water level,” he said.

Dr Ahsan, a paediatrician, said gastro increased with the start of rain but still so many children were brought to the hospital with the complaints of vomiting and diarrhoea.

He said overeating habits were also increasing the problem. Now people cook food once and use it for days due to which chances of growing bacteria is increasing. He said junk food was also one of the reasons for gastro.—A Reporter