Number of mysterious viral disease patients starts falling in Malir

The number of patients with mysterious viral fever has dropped drastically in the Malir area, health officials claimed on Wednesday.

They said that only 46 patients with high-grade fever were brought to three public and private hospitals in the area, while Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) said they had sent samples of patients with suspected Chikungunya to a specialised reference lab in the United States of America.

Hundreds of patients with high-grade fever and pain in joints have been brought to different public and private hospitals in Malir over the past few days, and doctors after initial medical examinations say the symptoms of the disease show that they have been infected by the Chikungunya virus, a mosquito-borne diseases spread by the same mosquitoes which cause the dengue viral fever.

Interestingly, no lab in the Sindh province has the kits or the facility to detect the Chikungunya virus and hundreds of patients are being given symptomatic treatment while experts from different public and private health facilities have collected blood samples to identify the disease.

Karachi Health Director Dr Abdul Waheed Panhwar said on Wednesday that fear among people in Malir and adjoining areas was fading away, as only 46 patients with high-fever and joints pain reported at the Sindh Government Hospital, Saudabad Malir, Al-Mustafa Welfare Trust and 25-bed hospital Malir Shed.

He said a team of experts from Dow Diagnostic Laboratory also visited the area and collected blood samples of the patients, and a team of the Sindh health department also visited various private hospitals, where dozens of patients with viral disease were still undergoing treatment.

Dr Panhwar maintained that a separate counter for patients had been established at the Sindh Government Hospital Saudabad. He added that samples of patients were being sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad for confirmation.

Researchers at the Aga Khan University’s Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine are working on a surveillance project for patients to check Chikungunya and other mosquito-borne infections, an AKUH statement said.

“Since all these viruses have similar structure, they have sent samples for verification from a specialised reference laboratory in the USA,” the statement said, adding that diagnosis of the Chikungunya virus at the Aga Khan University Hospital would be considered based on the results of the project.

Meanwhile, the office of the WHO representative in Pakistan issued a “Chikungunya Health Advisory”, saying the viral disease was spread by the same mosquitoes which caused dengue viral fever, but it was a non-fatal or rarely-fatal disease, whose high-risk groups were newborns, older adults and persons with chronic medical conditions.

WHO advised people to take precautions which were adopted in case of dengue fever, carry out fumigation to eradicate mosquitoes, and wear protective clothing. 

The international health body said there was no specific anti-viral drug available for the treatment of Chikungunya, and asked patients to avoid taking pain relievers like aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen sodium.