Rawalpindi : The three teaching hospitals in the town including Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Rawalpindi Teaching Hospital have started receiving a heavy burden of dengue fever suspects while the number of patients being confirmed at the allied hospitals is also on the rise.
Data collected by ‘The News’ on Sunday revealed that a total of 1,729 patients have reported at dengue fever outpatient departments of the three allied hospitals so far of which 1,440 were suspected for the disease.
The three hospitals had to admit as many as 236 dengue fever suspects for management, though 21 of them turned out to be positive for dengue fever. However, another 25 probable cases of the infection have also been registered with the teaching hospitals and their results are being awaited.
It is important that the majority of the confirmed, suspected and probable cases of dengue fever have been reported in the
last one-and-a-half months or so.
Alarming is the fact that out of some 15 dengue fever patients confirmed positive in the last one month or so, as many as six patients have been diagnosed with dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) though, to date no case of dengue shock syndrome (DSS) has so far been reported at the three hospitals.
DSS and DHF are rare complications of the infection and these cases are differentiated from dengue fever on the basis of history of bleeding from gum or skin and are considered as more fatal than dengue fever cases. Studies reveal that the mortality rate among patients with DHF and DSS complications ranges from two to 40 per cent.
According to Principal Rawalpindi Medical College Professor Dr. Jahangir Sarwar Khan, the HFH has so far admitted a total of 196 dengue fever suspects of which 19 have been tested positive while two are probable cases.
Five patients have been diagnosed with DHF at the HFH and one at the RTH. The BBH had to admit 17 dengue fever suspects for management while 23
patients were admitted at the RTH.
Health experts say that people should be aware of the fact that dengue fever is caused by the bite of
an infected female mosquito ‘aedes aegypti’ and its elimination is a must to control spread of the infection.
It is important that almost all varieties of mosquitoes breed in or near water that is stagnant or slow moving and to check spread of dengue fever, the habitats of mosquitoes especially those close to human habitation should be eliminated.
The reporting of 21 confirmed cases of dengue fever at the allied hospitals in the region hints that the growth of larvae of ‘aedes aegypti’, the vector that causes dengue fever cannot be checked and in this situation, according to health experts, it is a must for the individuals to take preventive and control measures religiously to avoid a possible outbreak of the infection.
The experts also say that an early appearance of dengue fever outbreak cannot be ruled out particularly in the existing weather conditions and due to occurrence of multiple rain spells in the region, however the most important thing at the time is to take serious measures to check breeding of mosquitoes inside homes and offices to avoid spread of the infection.