ABBOTTABAD, Oct 14: The National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, has confirmed four more Congo fever cases after tests of the patients' blood samples sent by Ayub Medical Complex Hospital, sources told Dawn on Thursday. Interestingly, the hospital has discharged all the four patients a few days ago and their whereabouts are not known, the hospital sources said.
They said that blood samples of at least 18 patients were sent on October 6 to the NIH laboratories for Congo fever tests, which declared four cases positive. The victims include Sultan Shah, Shah Zaman, Aurangzeb and Sher Gul.A deputy medical superintendent of the hospital had died due to the Congo fever last month, while his brother was shifted to Islamabad in critical condition.
The blood samples were collected by pathology department of the AMC, but the hospital did not have complete data of the patients and spread of the disease was feared.
The sources said that the AMC management held an emergency meeting, also attended by the WHO officials, which decided to establish an isolation room, for which medical protocol would be followed by patients, their attendants and medical staff. They said that the meeting decided that all patients in the complex would be monitored by the pathology department of Ayub Medical College and every patient whose platelet cells were found below 50,000 will be kept in the isolation ward till confirmation of reports from the NIH.
By Our Correspondent
