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KARACHI, Sept 26: Viral haemorrhagic fever and dengue are spreading in almost all the localities of the city, and, as such, there is a need for both the community and civic agencies to initiate extra measures to overcome the situation, said doctors.
A survey conducted by Dawn showed that the arrival of patients affected with haemorrhagic fever and dengue at various health-care units in the city was continuing.
Patients ranging from six to 80 years of age are reporting from both the posh and less-privileged areas of the city, said sources from a couple of hospitals on Wednesday.
Sindh Deputy Health Secretary Dr Shakil Malik told Dawn that 23 patients had been admitted to six government and private hospitals over the past 24 hours ending around 3pm on Wednesday. As many as 20 patients had been tested positive for dengue fever, he added.
The hospitals where dengue patients were admitted are Civil Hospital Karachi, Aga Khan University Hospital, Liaquat National Hospital, Ziauddin Hospital, Bismillah Taqee Hospital and Zainab Panjwani Hospital.
The AKU received eight patients in its out-patient department on Wednesday. They all tested positive for dengue. A local laboratory has tested 24 OPD patients -- from August till date – out of which 12 are said to be positive and the rest negative.
Dr Zaki Hasan, a consultant physician from Darul Sehat in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, said that his hospital had received about 15 dengue-positive patients, in addition to attending to a similar number of patients suspected of suffering from mosquito-borne diseases and viral hemorrhagic fever in the OPD, in recent weeks. All were residents of Gulistan-i-Jauhar, he said.
According to a source, Gulistan-i-Jauhar faced problems of water accumulation due to rains or water line leakages.
Patients reporting to other hospitals for dengue treatment belonged to Saddar, DHA, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Model Colony, PIB Colony, Kharadar, North Nazimabad, F.B. Area, Faran Housing Society, Fatima Jinnah Colony, New Karachi, Nazimabad, Clifton, Korangi, Garden West and PECHS.
Monitoring cell
In the meantime, a health department official said that a monitoring cell pertaining to dengue fever cases had been reactivated, but preparation of any consolidated report based on information received from various hospitals would take at least another couple of days.
“We are reminding the hospitals to take the issue of dengue-relevant data as a serious matter and keep updating the health department as a priority,” added the official.
Dr Rafiq Khanani of the Infection Control Society of Pakistan feared that there were chances of an increase in cases of dengue fever just as in previous years in October due to hot weather conditions. “Civic agencies should carry out extra fumigation and cleanliness drives, particularly in areas from where dengue cases are being reported,” he added.
Shedding light on the prevention of dengue-related diseases, he said that apart from mosquito control by standard methods both indoors and outdoors, the most important measures included prevention of mosquito bites by covering the body as much as possible and using mosquito repellents on exposed parts, especially taking care of children and the elderly.
He maintained that proper management guidelines must be known to all doctors, including general practitioners, saying that plenty of oral fluids, especially fruit juices and ORS, should be given to patients, while antibiotics and anti-malarials should be avoided as these complicate the cases and decrease the platelet and white cell counts further and increase the chances of bleeding and delay the recovery of the patient.
He said that all suspected, probable and confirmed cases of dengue and haemorrhagic fever should be reported to the relevant health authorities at the earliest.
He also called for mandatory spraying of all long route transport vehicles to prevent other areas from getting infected mosquitoes.
An expert in blood transfusion said that the government should also designate reputable diagnostic centres for confirmation of dengue virus in blood samples either free of cost or on subsidised rates so that the poor and the needy could move suspected cases for treatment at the earliest.
