Death of confirmed patient at HFH turns situation alarming

Rawalpindi

The death of a confirmed patient of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever here at the Holy Family Hospital in town two days back, on Thursday, has turned the situation more alarming while raising so many questions in the minds of almost all stakeholders about what actually the concerned government authorities have been doing for prevention and control of the ongoing CCHF spike in the country.

The number of cases of CCHF is continuously on the rise all across the country though the most affected province is Baluchistan. However, significant number of confirmed patients of the deadly infection has been reported in Sindh and Punjab province.

In Rawalpindi, as many as four patients have been tested positive for CCHF during the ongoing CCHF outbreak of which two died of it while two have been discharged after achieving complete cure at HFH. It is important that confirmation of even one patient for CCHF is considered as outbreak.

The death of 25-year old Zulfiqar son of M Ilyas at HFH on Thursday is the first death due to CCHF at the allied hospitals this year however, another confirmed patient of the infection died of it at Fauji Foundation Hospital in town some two weeks back.

Zulfiqar, a worker at a furniture shop in Chah Sultan, a central market in town was admitted to the HFH on September 5 with a history of fever for eight days along with myalgia (pains in muscles), nausea and bleeding from gums.

According to a top official at HFH, the patient was presented to the hospital with low blood in an irritable condition and he was shifted to medical ICU from isolation ward for management but he could not survive.

The patient was a resident of Villaga Hazro Bhangi near Haleem Baba Masjid in District Attock. It is important that two CCHF suspects from Attock have already been tested negative for CCHF while result in one case is yet to be received by the HFH.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Saturday reveals that to date, a total of 35 suspects of CCHF have been registered with the HFH of which three have been tested positive, 28 negative while result in four cases is being awaited.

According to details, a total of nine suspects have been reported from Rawalpindi, four from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, eight from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, six from Chakwal, four from Attock, two from Mianwali and one from Jhelum. One CCHF suspect reached HFH after return from Saudi Arabia.

However, so far a total of three suspects have been tested positive including two patients from Chakwal and one from Attock.

At present, as many as four CCHF suspects including two patients from AJK and one each from Attock and Chakwal are undergoing treatment at the HFH.
Their samples have been
sent to National Institute of Health for confirmatory reports.

It is important that the CCHF is caused by Nairovirus of the Bunyaviridae family transmitted to humans by the bite of Hyalomma tick that is mostly found on the skin of animals including goat, sheep and cattle. Exposure to blood or tissue of the infected animal during or post slaughtering and direct contact with blood or secretions of infected person may also cause transmission.

The case fatality rate of the deadly infection ranges from 2 per cent to 50 per cent. The CCHF was first described in Crimea in 1944 and identified in 1956 in Congo.

Many health experts are of the view that before and on the festive occasion of Eidul Azha, the population in this region of the country is in a need of taking extraordinary precautionary measures while handling sacrificial animals to avoid further spread of the deadly infection.