KARACHI, March 1: The need to quarantine all patients suspected to be afflicted with Congo Virus has been recommended to prevent further spread of the disease in the country.

Dr Shaheen Shoaib of Dow Medical College, while talking to APP here on Friday, stressed the provision of strict “Barrier Nursing” for attendants of the patients as medical community, including doctors, paramedics and laboratory staff, often becomes an ultimate victim.

Cautious tackling of the infected persons, besides meticulous attention towards proper disposal of infected secretion as well as excreta were also suggested. Blood sampling of all the suspected cases should particularly be properly tagged as “Bio-Hazard” and very carefully handled, she maintained.

Most appropriate methodology is to burn the infected waste either through incinerator or autoclave, Dr Shaheen said, adding that Congo Virus commonly infected human beings by tick bite, present in wild and domestic animals.

Air-borne infections and its association with wild birds have also been registered in different parts of the world, including certain regions of Africa and former USSR, besides Bulgaria and China.

According to her though “Viral Culture” method was the most reliable process to ascertain presence of the virus, yet since it is expensive and not commonly applied in Pakistan, proper clinical assessment could also efficiently help in timely diagnosis of the disease.

At its onset, the infected patient reports with sudden high fever along or followed by severe headache, nausea, vomiting and ultimately nasal, gastric and intestinal bleedings, she elaborated.

“Since the signs and symptoms of the disease are very clear, proper guidance of general physicians could easily help early diagnosis of the case,” she said.

Dr Shaheen Shoaib said that all the suspected patients should be kept in incubation for at least about a week. Since no vaccine is as yet available to treat the disease, she stressed the need to improve hygienic conditions at all levels across the country through proper sensitization among the masses regarding repercussion of the infection and modes to avoid the same.

The tick bite could be averted through proper use of insecticides and pesticides, she said.

Early diagnosis of the disease is followed by some urgent measures to control bleeding and provision for urgent safe blood and platelet transfusion to avoid casualty.—APP