KARACHI, June 5: Sixty-eight persons are being treated in the medical wards of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and the Civil Hospital, Karachi, for chronic liver disease, a survey has revealed. The medical wards of the two hospitals have 354 beds in all.

The occupation of 19.2 per cent of the beds in the medical wards of the two hospitals by patients of CLD indicates that the prevalence of Hepatitis B and C is shooting up.

They told Dawn that chronic liver disease (CLD) could be caused by many reasons. “However, in the case of Pakistan about 90 per cent of the CLD patients have either Hepatitis B or C,” said one of them.

Dawn’s survey revealed that 19 patients of CLD were admitted to the Medical Ward Nos 5, 6 and 7 of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre recently and 49 to the Medical Ward Nos I, II, III, IV and V of the Civil Hospital Karachi.

The medical units of the JPMC have 150 beds in all. And the total bed strength in the medical units of the CHK stands at 204. Therefore, the percentage of CLD cases in the JPMC, with total bed strength as a base, was 12.66 per cent. For the CHK it was 24.09 per cent.

During the survey Dawn found that at least one female patient of the CLD, admitted to the JPMC, had gone into coma. On the other hand, one patient in the CHK had both Hepatitis B and C.

Dr Takreem of the JPMC said on Wednesday that a number of CLD patients had already gone into failure. “We are trying our best to cope with the situation.

“That is, we are trying to stabilize the condition of our patients.” She said many doctors gave their money to the attendants in an effort to save the lives of the patients.

Dr Umar and Dr Farhana of the CHK said one in three patients in its medical wards either had Hepatitis B or C.

The JPMC’s doctors who talked to Dawn on Wednesday were: Dr Ajeet and Dr Takreem. Two RMOs did not allow Dawn to mention their names.

The doctors of the CHK who provided data were: Dr Umar, Dr Arshad Ali, Dr Farhana, Dr Zawwar Hussein, Dr Pyar Ali, Dr Babar Basheer and Dr Waseem.

Meanwhile, Prof Tipu Sultan, Karachi University’s dean of medicine faculty, said the big difference in the percentage of CLD cases of the CHK with that of the JPMC was due to the peculiarity of their catchment areas. “The people going to the CHK mostly belong to the Lyari and Ranchhore Lines areas.

“These areas are inhabited by very poor people having strange living habits. This could be a reason for the difference in the percentages of CLD cases between those of JPMC and CHK.”

Prof Sultan said people reporting to the JPMC also belonged to poor localities. “But their lifestyles may be slightly better,” he said.