KOHAT, Nov 6: A boy belonging to Orakzai Agency, who is suspected of having contracted dengue fever, had to be shifted to Peshawar for treatment owing to unavailability of medical facilities in any of the hospitals in the district.

Dr Ilyas, who runs a children clinic in Kohat, said that 12-year-old Islamur Rehman had been brought to him with high fever and red spots on his body a few days back. He was profusely bleeding.

Due to the absence of dengue fever test kit in his clinic he referred the patient to Liaquat Memorial Women and Children Hospital after informing the executive district officer of the health department about the case.

The LMH staff told the attendant of the patient that they too had no arrangement for the treatment of dengue fever and asked them to take him to the Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar.

Dr Ilyas to whom the patient was brought again by his attendants said that the Lady Reading Hospital staff had refused to admit the boy because he had no female attendant and discharged him after giving him medicines. The patient was later treated at a private hospital in Peshawar, the doctor said.

He said informed that the condition of the patient was very serious and his platelets level had dropped to 17,000 which should be above 150,000 in normal cases.

The patient was sent to his home in Orakzai Agency two days back by him.

Dr Ajab Ali, officer in charge of the LMH emergency, when contacted confirmed that so far the government had not provided them with the test kits or any other medicines for the treatment of dengue fever. However, they had been briefed about the symptoms of the disease and precautions to be adopted against it.

Doctors at the KDA divisional medical complex also said that they had not been provided diagnostic kits so far.