RAWALPINDI: Dengue fever claims its first victim in Punjab this year at the garrison city’s Holy Family Hospital (HFH) on Saturday, the second day of Eid.

However doctors say the patient, 65-year-old Tasleem Bibi, was suffering from multiple diseases.

Tasleem Bibi, a resident of Satellite Town, was admitted to the hospital on Friday when she came in suffering from a headache and fever. She died in the dengue ward on Saturday. Doctors say she also had heart and liver problems and was diabetic as well.

Dr Javed Hayat of the HFH said: “Her diabetes was poorly controlled and her blood pressure shot up to 200/120. She could not have survived.”

He said because she was suffering from so many problems, her death cannot be said to have been caused by dengue alone. He said her liver was not working properly which made it all the more difficult to save her.

Over 550 dengue patients have been admitted to three govt hospitals

The garrison city area has seen quite a few dengue cases over the last month. Official data, presented to Punjab Minister Shahbaz Sharif, states more than 581 dengue patients were admitted and treated in the three government-run hospitals: HFH, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital.

The data says 1,397 patients with dengue symptoms came in to the three hospitals out of which 581 were confirmed as dengue cases. Of these, 294 patients came to the HFH, 281 were treated at Benazir Bhutto Hospital and 83 at DHQ hospital. Over the three days of Eidul Azha alone, the three government hospitals treated 80 dengue patients between them.

A senior official at the health department said most of the patients came from the city areas and union councils of Rawal Town.

The official also added that patients from cantonment areas and Potohar Town also came in to be treated at one of these hospitals because the health authorities there have failed to launch an anti-dengue drive.

He said their staff had been assigned to work on the anti-polio campaign.

He said hospital staff in dengue-affected areas were prepared when patients arrived and were qualified to treat patients and said the main problem was lack of coordination between different departments.

He said town municipal authorities, for example, could easily have taken advantage of Eid holidays when busy bazaars were closed. Cleaning markets would have been much easier without shoppers to disrupt the process.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2015

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