PLoS ONE (Jan 2021)

Diarrhea treatment center (DTC) based diarrheal disease surveillance in settlements in the wake of the mass influx of forcibly displaced Myanmar national (FDMN) in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, 2018.

  • Abu S G Faruque,
  • Azharul Islam Khan,
  • S M Rafiqul Islam,
  • Baitun Nahar,
  • M Nasif Hossain,
  • Yulia Widiati,
  • A S M Mainul Hasan,
  • Mukeshkumar Prajapati,
  • Minjoon Kim,
  • Maya Vandenent,
  • Tahmeed Ahmed

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254473
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 8
p. e0254473

Abstract

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BackgroundIn August 2017, after a large influx of forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals (FDMN) in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh diarrhea treatment centers (DTCs) were deployed. This study aims to report the clinical, epidemiological, and laboratory characteristics of the hospitalized patients.MethodsThe study followed cross-sectional design. In total 1792 individuals were studied. Other than data, a single, stool specimen was subjected to one step rapid visual diagnostic test for Vibrio cholerae. The provisionally diagnosed specimens of cholera cases were inoculated into Cary-Blair Transport Medium; then sent to the laboratory of icddr,b in Dhaka to isolate the colony as well as perform antibiotic susceptibility tests. Data were analyzed by STATA and analyses included descriptive as well as analytic methods.ResultsOf the total 1792 admissions in 5 DTCs, 729 (41%) were from FDMN settlements; children ConclusionNo diarrhea outbreak was detected, but preparedness for surges and response readiness are warranted in this emergency and crisis setting.