KARACHI, Oct 11: The Pakistan Medical Association (Karachi Chapter) on Wednesday urged the Sindh health department and the city government to set up a special diagnostic lab in Karachi to diagnose dengue and Congo viruses and launching a fumigation drive to control breeding of particular mosquitoes.

A PMA release said there is no laboratory in Karachi to diagnose viruses, particularly Congo and dengue virus, except one at Aga Khan University Hospital, which is very costly.

It demanded for setting up a good quality lab to diagnose virus in Karachi, so that a blood sample of a patient from a public sector hospital should not be send to NIH, Islamabad, which takes three to four days or even more to diagnose dengue fever.

It said dozens of patients with viral fever were admitted at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JMPC), Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), Aga Khan University Hospital (AGUH) and Liaquat National Hospital (LNH).

It said at least 16 people had died only in Karachi due to hemorrhagic fever. This ratio shows severity of situation in Karachi, which had already been indicated through the media by PMA Karachi two weeks back.

It said that the PMA Karachi had sent a letter to the City Nazim on Sept 30 requesting immediate steps for elimination of breeding of particular mosquitoes in the city through effective spray.

The PMA advised the people for taking preventive measures to avoid mosquito bite. It said in case of symptoms like high-grade fever, body ache, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite one should never take antibiotic except Paracetamol, and use plenty of water and food and take complete rest.

It further asked them to go for investigation, like blood CBC (Complete Blood Count), MP (Malarial Parasite), and blood culture and look for platelets and WBC (White Blood Cells) count when the fever persists.

If reports show platelet counts below 70,000, the patient should immediately contact a qualified doctor or a specialist.

The PMA informed that when the platelet count drops to 20,000, hemorrhagic patches may appear all over the body and bleeding can occur from nose, mouth, etc.

It said mosquito spray was the only solution to prevent the mosquitoes borne disease and hoped that the Sindh health department and city government would take serious notice of this issue immediately.—PPI