"My house is submerged by dark water that gives a strong bad smell. It is impossible to live there. I don't know what happened. Suddenly I threw up. Everything was coming out and it did not stop," said 22-year-old Afzal from his hospital bed at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), better known as Mohakhali Cholera Hospital.

Afzal was on intravenous saline and his relatives standing by him told Star City that they took him to hospital two days ago when the condition turned serious.

Like Afzal, many other patients -- mostly women and children in hospital -- were fighting the waterborne disease, while doctors and nurses were trying their best to offer them a little comfort.

Hundreds of patients were lying on the beds inside the ICDDR,B building and hundreds more were given beds on passages.

"We will treat all patients who come to hospital. Our hospital in its history refused nobody who came for treatment," said Dr Pradip Bardhan, a senior scientist and in charge of the ICDDR,B.

"We are fully equipped and staffed to face the situation. If needed, we will set up tents to provide treatment," he added.

Hospital officials said the number of inpatients admitted a day has dramatically increased over the last week as floodwaters started to recede from the city by a trickle. Doctors and nurses said about 500 patients are admitted to the ICDDR,B a day, while the figure was on average 250 a month ago.

"As diarrhoea has a seasonal pattern, sometimes we receive more patients and sometimes a few in a year. The floods have doubled the number and it may increase in the coming days," Dr Bardhan said.

Experts fear the number will increase in the next two to three days when the water will go down. During water recession in 1988 and 1999 floods, more people were taken ill with diarrhoea. "The number of patients increases as the water rises, but it becomes more when water recedes," he added.

Most patients admitted to the hospital have come from low-lying areas on the eastern outskirts of the capital. People living there drank polluted water because of the acute safe drinking water crisis and contracted diarrhoea.

Children are most vulnerable, as they do not have enough immunity to protect deadly microorganisms.

"Most of them are from Demra, Badda, Mirpur and Gulshan in Dhaka and from its adjoining areas such as Rupganj, Demra and Kernaiganj," said doctor Sayma Khurshed, a clinical fellow of ICDDR,B.

Ruma, a housewife, came from Mirhajibag with her 5-month-old son Rakib five days ago. "We did not abandon our home to floodwaters and my son contracted diarrhoea," she said resting her son on her shoulder and little Rakib was crying.

Majeda rushed her 4-month-old daughter to the ICDDR,B four days ago from flood-hit Gendaria after visiting two hospitals. Her rickshawpuller husband Kader said it was just waist-deep water inside their shanty where his daughter accidentally dropped from his arms and was taken ill with diarrhoea.

Some patients have come from as far as Munshiganj, Manikganj, Narshingdi and Savar.

"It is very difficult for us to figure out the exact number of diarrhoea patients across the country but I can say about our patients with confidence. As the number of patients in hospital doubled, we can guess the situation all over the country," Dr Bardhan said.

Officials said more than 60,000 people were taken ill with diarrhoea across the country while unofficial sources put the number more than a lakh.

To face the situation, the hospital authorities have already increased the number of beds and decided to increase more if needed. More than 12,000 inpatients were treated in the past week.

"During the devastating floods in 1998, more than 900 patients came for treatment a day and we treated all. This time, if the number crosses thousand, we are ready to deal with it," Dr Bardhan said.