Gastroenteritis and complications

Islamabad: The four major public sector hospitals in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi including Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and District Headquarters Hospital have received well over 13,000 patients with gastroenteritis this year from May 1 to date.

Gastroenteritis is considered as number five cause of death in Pakistan and number one cause of presentation to hospitals in summer. Commonly known as gastro, it has already hit population in scattered areas of the country. Many health experts however fear that the situation would be much alarming in next few weeks with the rise in temperature and humidity.

Data collected by ‘The News’ has revealed that within last one-and-a-half months, well over 7,500 patients with gastro have received treatment at PIMS while the allied hospitals in Rawalpindi had to provide treatment to nearly 6,000 patients at outpatient departments only.

The Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences received over 5,000 patients with gastro during Ramazan only while from May 1 to date, the PIMS had to admit over 200 patients with gastro in wards for management.

In last one-and-a-half months, the Benazir Bhutto Hospital received over 2000 patients at its OPD with gastro and its complications while nearly 2,600 patients reached Holy Family Hospital with gastro from May 1 to date.

The District Headquarters Hospital received nearly 1,400 patients with gastroenteritis at its OPD and emergency department from May 1 to date.

Majority of gastro patients reached hospitals with complaints of vomiting, fever, diarrhoea and dehydration along with low blood pressure.

Gastroenteritis is an infection of stomach and intestine. It is a group of diseases caused by various viruses, bacteria, their toxins and parasites. The most common symptoms are diarrhoea and vomiting. Deaths from condition are common in the developing world like Pakistan especially in children under five years of age.

According to Deputy Director at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Dr. Waseem Ahmed Khawaja, the PIMS had to admit a number of patients mainly because of complications of gastro that appear among patients generally due to late presentation to the hospitals.

In elderly patients suffering from gastro, multiple factors add to their miseries like pre-existing diseases related to heart, kidney and lungs along with hypertension and diabetes, he said.

Medically, the danger signs in patients with gastro are intractable vomiting, altered consciousness, decreased or absent urine formation, diarrhoea with bleeding, age over 65 years or below five years, post diarrhoea obstruction and intestinal perforation.

In case of any of these symptoms, the patient should immediately be taken to the hospital.

According to Consultant Intensive Care Medicine at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Dr. Muhammad Haroon, for a patient with diarrhoea, only ORS is the standard therapy, at least one packet in one litre of water daily.

The latest research has proved that initial six hours of the onset of acute gastro is the golden time to save life and gastrointestinal tract of the patient.

If urine of a patient gets scanty or stops coming, patient should be given vigorous oral fluids to save kidneys as the number one cause of morbidity and mortality in gastro patients is acute kidney failure, said Dr. Haroon.