LAHORE: Dengue fever claimed the life of a young patient at Services Hospital, an official told Dawn on Thursday.

It is said to be the first death which has been officially attributed to the dengue virus in Lahore in the ongoing peak season of the disease.

A resident of Chaman Park, Shalimar Town, Awais, 24, was taken to Services Hospital with a history of dengue fever. During clinical observation, the doctors suspected the patient in advanced stage of the dengue virus which is called as dengue shock syndrome (DSS). The DSS complications led to the death of the patient.

The consultants of the patient attributed Awais’s death to the DSS and conveyed to the health authorities accordingly.

A spokesperson for the health department said the case had been referred to the Dengue Experts Advisory Group (DEAG) for investigation. He said the health department would officially confirm the death by dengue on the basis of the report of the DEAG.

DEAG chairman Prof Dr Faisal Masood told Dawn the group would investigate the case to know the cause of death. He confirmed that the hospital administration had attributed death of the patient to DSS complications.

However, final confirmation would be issued on the basis of the DEAG report, he said.

Meanwhile, 20 more cases of the dengue fever were confirmed all over the province during the last 24 hours.

The number of dengue cases has reached 388 in Punjab.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2014