By Shahina Maqbool
A 32-year-old Pakistani, Abdul Ali Mian, who had been working as a driver in Saudi Arabia, returned to Islamabad on Friday, with symptoms of Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF). The patient, who had been under treatment in a private hospital in Saudi Arabia, got himself admitted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), where he was driven straight from the Benazir Bhutto International Airport.
According to PIMS spokesman Dr. Waseem Khwaja, Abdul Ali is suspected as suffering from CCHF, and has been moved to the isolation ward, where barrier nursing protocols are strictly being adhered to. Relevant samples of the patient have been dispatched to the National Institute of Health (NIH). “The patient is bleeding from the nose and gums, and has high fever and body rash,” Dr. Waseem said, terming him “critical.”
An endemic tick-borne viral disease, CCHF is transferred to humans through tick bite or through direct contact with blood or other infected tissues from livestock infected with the virus. Symptoms include fever, aching muscles, dizziness, neck pain and stiffness, backache, headache, sore eyes and sensitivity to light.
Other clinical signs that may emerge include fast heart rate, dramatic drop in platelet and white blood cell counts, bleeding from the upper bowel, blood in the urine, nosebleeds, and bleeding from the gums. The severely ill may develop liver and kidney failures after the fifth day of illness. In patients who recover, improvement generally begins on the ninth or tenth day after the onset of illness.
Meanwhile, following the confirmation of four cases of dengue fever on October 8, another case was added to the tally on Friday when the National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed 16-year-old Asiya, a resident of Kotli, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, as suffering from the same disease.
Asiya is currently under treatment at the PIMS, where the remaining four patients are on the road to recovery. However, unlike other confirmed cases, Asiya has been described by hospital sources as being in a critical condition. She came to the PIMS with a two-week history of fever and drowsiness.
Dengue fever is caused by a species of mosquito known as aedes aegypti. This mosquito, which usually bites in the day, breeds in water in flowerpots, water accumulated in old tyres and broken plastic ware or even in stagnant water in the lawn or backyard of homes. In appearance, this specie of the mosquito is distinguished from others by the white spots it carries on its body.
Dengue was first reported in Pakistan in Karachi in 1994. Among the symptoms of the disease is high-grade fever, which starts three days after the mosquito bite. The fever could continue for seven days followed by acute headache and pain in back of the eyes known as retro-orbital pain, along with acute pain in the muscles and joints.