KARACHI, Oct 30: One more dengue fever patient died at a private hospital here on Monday pushing up the death toll of the viral haemorrhagic fever, including dengue fever, in the city over the past 18 weeks to 25.
According to the data provided by the Dengue Surveillance Cell of the Sindh Health department, a male patient brought from Hyderabad expired at the Aga Khan University Hospital on Monday morning. The patient with the symptoms of mosquito-afflicted disease had been admitted to the hospital on October 18 and was tested dengue positive.
The In-charge of the Dengue Surveillance Cell (DFC), Dr Abdul Majid, said the name, age and other details of the patient could not be known as the hospital concerned did not provide the information.
The latest fatality from VHF/dengue at the AKUH was eighth since June 14 bringing the percentage of such cases at this hospital to 2.36. It was 3.2 per cent at the National Institute of Child Health, 2.99 per cent at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, 0.96 at the Civil Hospital and 0.72 at the Liaquat National Hospital.
In all, 28 patients of the suspected VHF have died in the province with three deaths occurring in the hospitals located in other cities.
In the meantime, the total number of patients with mosquito-borne diseases reporting at various hospitals has risen to 1,801 with another 64 patients being brought to 13 government and private hospitals in the city during the past 24 hours ending at 2pm Monday, notwithstanding the fumigation drive in various towns of the city.
The patients came from PECHS, Garden, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Nazimabad, Malir, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, F B Area, Landhi, Clifton, Liaquatabad, New Town, Orangi, Model Colony, Buffer Zone, Firdaus Colony, Kalaboard, Memon Goth, Bihar Colony, Lyari, Mohajir Camp, Site, Banaras, Sharea Faisal and Gadap.
A maximum of 29 fresh cases of suspected VHF was admitted to the AKUH, followed by 13 each at the LNH and JPMC. As many as 49 patients were discharged from nine hospitals after they recovered during the past 24 hours.
The position of in-house patients at different hospitals in the city on Monday was as follows: AKU: 30 (29 new), LNH: 24 (13 new), JPMC: 40 (13 new), Ziauddin Hospital: 25 (seven new), CHK: 17 (five new), Bismillah Taqi Hospital: 11 (two new), Hamid Hospital: 2 (both new), NICH: 4 (all new), Abbasi Shaheed Hospital: five (two new), Baqai Hospital: 14 (five new), Zainul Abedin Hospital: two (no new), Darul Shifa, Malir: seven (four new), Patel Hospital: 11 (five new), Chiniot General Hospital: 17 (two new) and Midcity Hospital: one (no new).
Meanwhile, a man arrived at the blood-test lab of the Sindh Services Hospital on Monday at around 2.30pm along with his 19-year-old son, Abdullah, who was bleeding through his nose and had high grade fever for the last three-four days.
However, the staff at the lab told the man to bring his son next day as they had already wound up for the day.
The desperate father, a resident of Liaquatabad, begged for help apprehending that his son’s condition might turn critical if the test was delayed. According to him, the lab staff obliged him by taking his son’s blood sample and advising him to collect the report next day.
“We have so far tested about 147 blood samples, out of which 35-40 have been found dengue positive,” one of the staffers told Dawn.
