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| December 4, 2005 | Sunday | Ziqa’ad 1, 1426 |
‘Congo virus patient’ dies in Lahore
LAHORE, Dec 3: Ali Shan, infected reportedly with Congo virus, died in the early hours of Saturday in the Lahore General Hospital. The body of the patient was taken away from the hospital by an Edhi ambulance at around 5am. No whereabouts of the body or patient’s relatives could be found.
A hospital doctor also visited Akbari Gate later in the day but he failed to locate the family or the body.
Afterwards, it was learnt, the hospital administration suspended parchi clerk Qamar for not writing complete address of the patient. It also issued warning to medical officer Dr Hammad, a head nurse and a nurse for neither writing complete address of the deceased nor collecting a copy of the identity card of the person whom the body was handed over.
Meanwhile, a three-member Punjab Epidemiology Committee visited the hospital on Saturday and investigated clinical and laboratory tests and record of the patient.
When contacted, Punjab Health Advisor (Technical) Dr Anwaar Ahmad Bugvi said the epidemiology committee comprising Prof Farkhanda, Dr Nasir Iqbal and Dr Muhammad Hasan had reported that physical symptoms of the body were like that of Congo virus haemorrhagic encephalitis but clinical and laboratory tests did not support the assertion.
Replying to a question, he said that medical postmortem was necessary in such sensitive cases but the hospital authorities required prior permission from the relatives of the deceased to do so.
“The family might have taken away the body in a hurry and disappeared to avoid further investigations of the dead,” he said.
Answering a question, Dr Bugvi appreciated the hospital administration for taking precautionary measures in handling a serious case.
It may be mentioned that Ali Shan,son of Azmat Ali, 18, a resident of Akbari Gate, Lahore, was admitted to the LGH on Nov 30. He was earlier discharged from the Mayo Hospital.
Hospital’s neuro-surgery unit-I associate professor Dr Rizwan Butt had detected that patient Ali Shan was suffering from Congo virus haemorrhagic encephalitis. The patient, who was unconscious and breathing with a tube, was then isolated as an immediate precautionary measure.
When contacted, LGH medical superintendent Dr Ijaz Ahmad Sheikh said the hospital had responded actively upon the information about patients’ symptoms suggesting that he had contracted a Congo virus which had already hit the country and claimed many lives.
He said the hospital had immediately reported the matter to the health department and isolated the patient. It also asked attending doctors and nurses to take all precautionary measures.
“The hospital administration would have been at fault if it had not responded to a sensitive case actively,” he said.
But, he said, the epidemiology committee had investigated and found that the patient was not a victim of a Congo virus. Still, he said, the room, where the patient was kept, had been fumigated.
Answering a question, Dr Sheikh said the Edhi ambulance had taken away the body early in the morning. About the disappearance of the body and his relatives, the medical superintendent admitted that the hospital did not know their whereabouts.
“A deputy medical superintendent was sent to the Akbari Gate area mentioned on the hospital parchi, but he could not trace Ali Shan’s body and his relatives,” he said.
Answering another question, Dr Sheikh said there was no law to conduct medical postmortem of a body without the permission of its relatives. He, however, said that the relatives of deceased Ali Shan might appear after learning that he was not infected with a Congo virus.
Meanwhile, a hospital spokesman has sent a news release stating that no Congo virus patient was brought to the hospital. He said Ali Shan, 18, was brought to the hospital some three days ago with “high grade fever and in unconscious condition”.
He said the patient was isolated on the suggestion of Dr Rizwan Butt. He said the hospital conducted diagnostic tests and offered best treatment but the patient could not survive.
The news release also said that a health department’s three-member epidemiology committee also visited the hospital on Saturday and examined all reports and record and reported that Ali Shan was not a Congo virus victim.
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