RAWALPINDI: Two dengue fever patients, including a young woman, died in the government-run hospital here on Thursday.

The doctors identified the two victims as Rukhsana Ijaz and Ahsan.

According to a senior doctor, Ahsan, 17, died in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) due to dengue. He said that the patient was brought to BBH by his family about four days ago where doctors took his blood samples and sent them for dengue serology. In the reports, the patient was diagnosed as dengue positive, he said.

Similarly, Rukhsana Ijaz, 26, was brought by her husband late on Wednesday night, but there was no spare ventilator in the ICU of BBH.

“She died though the doctors tried to save her life,” said a doctor.

BBH YDA president Dr Rana Azeem told Dawn that there was a shortage of ventilators in the ICU. “There are 10 beds and 10 ventilators in the ICU of which seven are in working condition that mostly remain occupied after the dengue epidemic,” he said.

Meanwhile, a meeting held in the DC Office here on Thursday reviewed the progress of anti-dengue teams. The meeting was attended by Secretary Primary and Secondary Health, Punjab, Mohammad Usman, DC Saifullah Gondal, MPA Farrukh Agha, Adviser Dengue Control Programme Dr Wasim Akram and assistant commissioners.

Addressing the meeting, the secretary and DC said that a total of 473 suspected patients had been admitted in the three allied hospitals of which 307 were confirmed as dengue positive.

They expressed their satisfaction over performance of the anti-dengue teams.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2019