It’s quite worrying that the number of diarrhoea patients admitted to various hospitals in Dhaka has seen a sudden spike although it wasn’t expected to peak until April.

International Centre for Diarrheal Disease and Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) in Dhaka has been struggling to cope with the record number of diarrhoea patients for the last one week.

With the arrival of summer, the number of diarrhoea patients in and around the capital has gone up steeply this month compared to last month.

Scientists at the icddr,b, in partnership with Incepta Pharmaceuticals, have developed a locally-made low-cost dipstick device -- Cholkit -- for rapid and effective diagnosis of cholera, generating new hopes of better management the disease.

A recent study conducted by ICDDR,B in 18 upazilas of Bogra, Gaibandha, Nilphamari, Dinajpur, Joypurhat, Rangpur and Sirajganj on the prevalence of bacteria in milk has found evidence of high level of bacteria, which make 77 percent of all pasteurised milk unsafe for human consumption.