Jannatul Mawa, 5, spent part of her Eid day in the children’s park of Dhaka Shishu Hospital, which has around 80 dengue patients, before returning to her hospital bed.  

The child diagnosed with dengue had her heart set on adorning her hands with beautiful mehendi designs and celebrating the day with her cousins, but that was not to be. Doctors determined her condition to be risky. 

The young girl was admitted to the hospital on August 9 and had hoped to be discharged by the time Eid came around. 

“She has been wanting to go home since morning. I gave her a new dress and also my mobile set to watch cartoons and play games, but it was not enough to make her happy,” said Jannat’s mother Qulsum.

“My daughter is feeling better since coming to the park and I plan on staying here till evening.”

Like Jannatul, seven-year-old Tasnuba Akhter was also playing in the park. She too wanted to go home, but dengue made that impossible. 

“Usually she played a lot with the sacrificial animals, but this is the first time in her life when she is celebrating Eid in a hospital bed,” said Sultana Begum, mother of Tasnuba.

Like them, dozens other dengue-infected children in the 650-bed hospital came to spend the Eid day in the park. Surrounded by trees, the main attractions there for children were the swings, slides and see-saws.

This kind of facility, however, is not available in every other hospital. 

“My son Masum Sardar has been undergoing treatment in the hospital for the last five days but still he is not risk free for which doctor did not allow him to go home,” said Salma Begum, mother of the fourth grader.

When asked about his Eid, Masum Sardar said nothing in reply. 

“It is very tough to keep him home during Eid day, but this year he has no desire to go anywhere,” said Salma.

A corridor at the paediatric section of the hospital filled with dengue infected children. Photo: Anisur Rahman

Prof doctor Uttam Kumar Barua, director of Shaheed Suhrawady Medical College Hospital said the Dhaka North City Corporation mayor provided toys, juice and chocolate to child patients on Eid day. 

Though the number of dengue patients fell just before Eid, it has started to increase since the second day of the holidays, said Uttam, adding that now the number of dengue patients in the hospital is 407.

He said they had introduced two new wards (male and female) for dengue patients.