KARACHI, Nov 17: Thirty-seven more patients, believed to be afflicted with mosquito-borne disease, were rushed to private and city government hospitals during the last 24 hours on Friday while 31 indoor patients were discharged from several health units in Karachi.

The dengue epidemic has, so far, claimed 39 lives in the city, while the tally of viral haemorrhagic fever or dengue fever patients increased up to 3725 on Friday.

Dr Tajammul Baig Mirza of the Dengue Fever Cell of the Sindh Health department, said that the overall number of people suspected VHF or dengue patients increased up to 3,790, in the province, out of which 1,368 have been found dengue positive.

According to DFC data, a maximum of 10 new patients were brought to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, while the Aga Khan University Hospital and Dr Ziauddin Hospital received eight patients each.

An AKUH press release, while giving patient position said that the figures obviously reflected a decrease in the number of such cases within the last two weeks. So far, a total of 645 patients with ages ranging between six and 82 years were admitted to AKUH from June 14 to November 17, with viral haemorrhagic fever, out of these, 14 patients expired.

In addition to Karachi, the AKUH also received patients from interior of Sindh, Gilgit, Baluchistan and Saudi Arabia.

The patients’ position at different city hospitals remained as follows on Friday:

AKU – six( five new), LNH - 29 (one), CHK – eight (0), ZH – 54 (nine), JPMC-38 (10), Bismillah Taqi Hospital, 22 (five), NICH – eight (four), ASH – 44 (0), Baqai Hopsital-10 (0),Patel Hospital - one (0), Darul Shifa Hospital-10 (one), Kutiyana Hospital – one (0) and Lyari Hospital – two (one).

According to AKU sources, the hospital received 349 samples for IgM test on Nov 11, out of which 122 (35 per cent) were found dengue positive. On Nov 10 and 11, the hospital received a total of 543 samples, out of which 121 (23 per cent) were dengue positive.

The Bismillah Taqi Institute of Health Science and Blood Diseases Centre got 45 samples of OPD patients in three days, out of which 29 (64 per cent) were detected dengue positive.

Three diagnostic centres set up recently by the city government at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, New Karachi Hospital and Sindh Hospital Korangi received a total of 313 samples for test, out of which 87 (28 per cent) have been found positive for dengue fever.