MULTAN, May 29: As many as 28 children suffering from diarrhoea were admitted to the Children Hospital Complex here during the last 24 hours, said MS Dr Nazar Abbas Gardezi.

He said here on Monday that 21 children were discharged after necessary medication at the emergency ward while seven in serious condition were admitted for thorough treatment.

“This indicates that there is no threat of an epidemic, it is just a routine seasonal malady,” he observed, adding that some people got panic and erroneously thought it to be gastroenteritis, as both have similar symptoms.

Dr Gardezi said 80 per cent of the patients who got treatment at the complex were below six months of age, while sucklings, who were breast-fed, normally do not suffer from diarrhoea.

He said currently almost 400 children were being treated daily in the outpatient department (OPD).

Replying to a question, he said work on the remaining portion of the 300-bed hospital was expected to start in July after allocation of funds in the annual budget.

The MS, said although most of the recruitments have been completed, the health secretary has permitted to appoint senior cadre officers like assistant professors so that ailing children did not suffer due to doctors’ shortage.

The doctors would be appointed on contract basis till the Punjab Public Service Commission nominees were made available to the hospital.—APP