First dengue fever case of 2016 from district tested positive at HFH

Rawalpindi

Holy Family Hospital in town has tested a patient positive for dengue fever, the first positive case of the infection this year from the district that proves the existence of adult mosquito ‘aedes aegypti’, the vector that causes dengue fever in the district.

The patient namely Fazal Muhammad reached HFH on Saturday with signs and symptoms of dengue fever from Tehsil Gujar Khan, some 50 kilometers from Rawalpindi. The HFH admitted the patient after suspecting him a patient of dengue fever and collected his blood sample for dengue serology. On Monday evening, his test came out to be positive for dengue fever.

The patient who is undergoing treatment in isolation ward at the HFH works in a poultry farm in Gujar Khan, said In-charge infectious diseases unit at Rawalpindi Medical College and allied hospitals Dr. Javed Hayat while talking to ‘The News’ on Tuesday.

He said the patient who was tested positive for dengue fever through NS1 test at the HFH was suffering from high grade fever and arthralgia, joint pain for six days before reaching hospital. According to technical guidelines prepared by Dengue Expert Advisory Group of the Punjab government, a case can be confirmed positive only through NS1 test under the criterion set in 2014.

It is important that Fazal is the first confirmed case of dengue fever reported from the district in 2016 that is alarming because it proves the existence of dengue fever vector in the region. Earlier this year, a patient was tested positive for the infection at the HFH however he was a resident of Hub, Baluchistan and it was believed that he contracted infection in his native town.

Many health experts believe that the confirmation of dengue fever patient from the district has increased the chances of a severe outbreak of the infection in the region this year too. It is worth mention here that the population in Rawalpindi district faced the worst-ever dengue fever spike last year, in 2015 with well over 3,800 confirmed cases of the infection reported at the three allied hospitals in town. The infection caused as many as 15 deaths in 2015, the number that was reported at the allied hospitals in town only.

Studies reveal that dengue, which is the fastest re-emerging arboviral disease in the world, imposes a heavy economic and health burden on countries, families and individual patients. In the absence of an effective drug or vaccine, the only strategic options presently available are effective case management to prevent death and vector control to reduce viral transmission. Accordingly the only best method to reduce the transmission of dengue virus is to control vector mosquitoes and protect against mosquitoes bites.

To a query, Dr. Javed said the HFH has notified the provincial and district health departments of the confirmation of the first case of dengue fever from the district. The provincial health secretary has also been notified of the case, he added.