Jhenaidah, Aug. 23 -- Over 200 children have been admitted to two hospitals in Jhenaidah with symptoms of pneumonia, diarrhoea and measles amid scorching heat and sudden weather changes, putting the local healthcare system under severe strain.

The situation has been further aggravated by frequent load-shedding, leaving sick children struggling in sweltering hospital wards without adequate ventilation, said witnesses and patients' relatives.

At the 250-bed Jhenaidah General Hospital, 197 children are currently receiving treatment in the pediatric ward which has only 46 beds, said Jahangir Hossain, the hospital's statistics officer.

Of them, 80 children are suffering from pneumonia, 97 from diarrhea and viral infections while another 20 ...