HYDERABAD: A total of 298 confirmed cases of dengue fever have been reported over the past two months till Oct 17 in Hyderabad, according to laboratory test results of 3,251 suspected dengue fever cases.

The suspected cases from different areas of the city were reported at Diagnostic and Research Laboratory (DRL) of Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) in Jamshoro, out of which 298 cases were confirmed after tests.

Eight dengue fever patients were under treatment in the Liaquat University Hospital (LUH) city branch as of now while there were 16 patients until two days back who were discharged after treatment.

According to DRL head Prof Dr Ikramuddin Ujjan, more dengue cases might continue to be reported till next month as it was the ideal time for the growth of the dengue-carrying mosquito.

He said that recent rainfall had created perfect conditions for the growth of this mosquito as rainwater remained stagnant in different areas and no anti-mosquito spray had been carried out by municipal bodies.

He said that DRL had a mega unit of platelets in case critical patients needed it. The LUH’s laboratory had a big unit for critically ill patients but usually dengue patients were discharged after conventional treatment, said LUH’s medical superintendent Dr Mubeen Memon.

He said that the hospital’s blood bank which was working under public-private partnership was also another source for platelets whose transfusion was essential if platelet count dropped to 10,000.

A mega unit at a private laboratory could cost a patient Rs20,000 while in public sector its cost came to around Rs11,000 to Rs12,000.

According to LUMHS’s professor of medicine Dr Imran Ali Shaikh, currently ratio of dengue simple fever among patients was higher. The second form of the dengue fever was haemorrhagic fever whose prevalence was around 30 per cent to 40pc, he said.

Dr Shaikh said that the third form was dengue septic shock but its ratio was not more than 2pc. He, however, said that multiple organs could be affected in dengue septic shock cases and chronic hepatitis patients were vulnerable to it because they already had lower platelet count.

According to him, if winter set in early this year then dengue cases would come to an end. Otherwise, the cases would continue to emerge till mid-November because autumn season created perfect conditions for the mosquito’s breeding.

He stressed that people must keep all containers of clean drinking water covered at all costs within their homes.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2019