Rawalpindi : Nearly 80 per cent of the total beds available for dengue fever patients at the three allied hospitals in town have already been occupied while the number of patients being tested positive for the infection from this region of the country is continuously on the rise.
Data collected by ‘The News’ on Saturday has revealed that a total of 117 dengue fever patients including the confirmed and suspected ones were undergoing treatment at the three teaching hospitals in town including Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and District Headquarters Hospital. The allied hospitals have a capacity of 146 beds for patients with infectious diseases in general. The Department of Infectious Diseases (DID) here at Holy Family Hospital operates with 70 beds in its ward apart from high dependency unit while BBH has 36 beds and DHQ Hospital has 40 beds capacity for dengue fever patients.
The allied hospitals had to admit well over 50 dengue fever patients in the last 24 hours while discharged 46 patients after necessary management. It is worth mentioning here that majority of patients tested positive for dengue fever from the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi in need of hospitalization are managed at the allied hospitals.
This year, a total of 1000 confirmed patients of dengue fever have so far been reported from the twin cities including 562 from Rawalpindi district and 438 from Islamabad Capital Territory of which well over 500 were managed at the three allied hospitals. According to details, a total of 991 suspected dengue fever patients have so far been admitted to the allied hospitals including 606 at HFH, 210 at BBH and 175 at DHQ Hospital. The DID at the HFH has so far managed a total of 337 confirmed dengue fever patients while BBH has provided treatment to 94 confirmed patients so far. As many as 103 confirmed dengue fever patients have so far received treatment at DHQ Hospital.
According to many health experts, the situation may become more alarming in the next two weeks as the peak season for transmission of dengue fever has set in. It is important that the weather conditions in September and October are considered to be the most suitable for transmission of dengue fever in this region of the country.
According to Head of Department of Infectious Diseases at Holy Family Hospital Dr. Muhammad Mujeeb Khan, the number of dengue fever patients is on the rise however, the situation is still well under control. He added that to control spread of the infection, individuals have to play an active role by taking extraordinary measures to avoid mosquito bite.