March 14, 2003	Friday	Muharram 10, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, March 13: A woman patient, who was brought from Rawalakot with a bleeding nose and mouth, is now in stable condition, but is still being kept in ‘isolation’.

Mehfeela Bibi was ‘dumped’ in Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) by the Rawalpindi General Hospital (RGH) staff.

“The blood has stopped and she is in stable condition. But, she is still being kept in complete isolation in medical ward-II.

“Her isolation will be strictly maintained till the time we get the results of all the laboratory tests we are conducting to diagnose her ailment and the cause of bleeding,” the staff on duty in the ward told Dawn on Thursday evening.

The sources in Pims said the symptomatic diagnosis indicated there was little chance of the patient being affected by the dreaded Crimean-Congo Haemorrhage Fever (CCHF).

“Had she been suffering from CCHF she would have died by now. The fact that she was bleeding from her nose and mouth created an alarm and we immediately enacted the precautionary and preventive measures while isolating her in the ward.

“But as she was not running a fever, and appeared quite stable, which was a very positive indication because very high fever is one of the major symptomatic indicator of CCHF,” the sources said.

It is now three days since Mehfeela Bibi was brought to the medical ward-II of Pims. Initially, her presence caused some concern among other patients in the ward who were affected by signs of anxiety evident in the staff on receiving the patient.

But, now the situation has improved. The patients, their attendants as well as the staff on duty in the ward said there was nothing to be worried about because the woman was being kept in isolation.

They also said the woman appeared to be recovering as bleeding had stopped and the doctors and nurses were also not as much concerned now as they were on the first day when she was brought to the hospital.

However, the doctors and the Pims administration were not ready to take any chances.

“She will be kept here in complete isolation with all the preventive and precautionary measures in place till the time we get all the lab test reports and make a final diagnosis,” Deputy Executive Director of Pims Dr Asif Mehmood told Dawn.

“We are satisfied that she is not suffering from CCHF on the basis of symptoms and the way her health is improving. But we would not be taking any chances,” he said.