Congo fever patient yet to be moved from JPMC general ward

Karachi

Despite having at least five separate rooms in the Medical ICU, Ward 23, at its disposal, the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) administration is not willing to move a Congo virus patient from the facility's general ward to an isolation room, a move that is imperative to protect other patients and doctors from the deadly virus. 

The JPMC administration had admitted a Congo Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) patient, 16-year-old Shahid Khan from Karachi’s Banaras area, to a general ward on Thursday, causing scare and fear among doctors, paramedical staff, nurses, patients and their attendants.

Despite the protest of doctors and paramedics, the patient, infected with Congo virus according to the Aga Khan University Hospital’s reports, was not moved to any isolated place from Bed No 08 of the hospital’s general ward.

Ironically, dozens of under-trial prisoners, including Dr Asim Hussain of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Anis Qaimkhani of the Pak Sarzameen Party, Nisar Morai of the Fisherman Cooperative Society and several other officials and businessmen facing cases pertaining to corruption charges, have been kept at separate rooms in the special ward of the hospital but poor and deserving patients, who must be kept in isolation due to medial and safety reasons, have been put in the general wards of the hospital, doctors at JPMC informed. “The Congo virus patient has been kept in isolation at the general ward,” said JPMC Deputy Director Dr Javed Jamali.

“The patient was admitted to Ward 7 by the doctors of the same ward for being on duty in the emergency, which is the norm of the hospital.”

To a query, he said such patients should be kept in any isolation ward and vowed to shift the patient in the isolation ward on Saturday morning. “The work is underway to establish such a ward at the hospital.”

Unfortunately, no isolation ward or room have been so far established by the JPMC administration for keeping suspected and confirmed CCHF patients and, therefore, such patients are kept along with other patients since long.

A couple of weeks back, a CCHF patient, Allah Ditta, an animal trader from Bahawalpur, had also been kept at the general ward of the JPMC despite protests by the doctors and paramedical staff of the hospital and the patient later died due to complications of the deadly viral disease.

Congo virus is highly contagious and a lethal viral infection and international protocols of its treatment and management is to immediately isolate its suspected and confirmed patients because many doctors and paramedics have died in Pakistan and rest of the world after coming into contact with such patients.

 “We have provided special gloves and masks to doctors, paramedics and even the attendants of the patients at the ward 7 to prevent spread of the viral disease,” claimed Dr Javed Jamali. 

However, medical staff at the JPMC rejected his claim, saying that no special gloves, masks, gowns or any other protective gear was provided to the doctors and paramedics on duty at the hospital.

“No masks and gloves have been provided by the administration to the nurses and paramedics, who are seeing this [Congo virus] patient. We are not going near to the patient and also advising his attendants to remain distanced from him”, said a nurse at the hospital’s Ward 7 requesting anonymity.

A couple of junior doctors who were treating the patient were wearing common surgical masks and gloves but they were not wearing protective gowns.

Talking to The News, they maintained that the patient should be admitted to an isolation ward with a separate washroom.

Officials of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) criticised the Sindh Health Department for not taking the issue seriously and termed the presence of Congo virus patient at the hospital’s general ward as a criminal negligence.

Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) Secretary General Dr Mirza Ali Azhar termed the presence of the Congo virus patient at the general ward as a criminal negligence and demanded the authorities to take strict action against the administration for violating the international protocols regarding treatment of the highly contagious and lethal disease.

“If a patient has been confirmed by the lab reports that he is infected with the Congo virus, the patient should be kept in isolation but unfortunately, there is no such isolation ward or room available at any public hospital, including the JPMC and the Civil Hospital Karachi, in the whole province”, Dr. Mirza deplored.

Renowned hematologist and a former official of the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA), Dr Saqib Ansari, said the Congo virus spread through the secretions of the patient.

“Even if the patient sneezes, the droplets carry the virus and can infect persons present nearby him or her.

“Such patients should be kept in complete isolation and medical staff visiting the patient should be in complete protective gear. We should learn from the death of Dr Sagheer of the Bahawal Victoria Hosptial, Bahawalpur, who contracted the disease from a patient and later died at a hospital in Karachi”, Dr Ansari said.