Patient tested positive at HFH

Rawalpindi

A patient undergoing treatment at one of the three teaching hospitals in town, Holy Family Hospital, has been tested positive for Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) on Saturday.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Saturday has revealed that one Alllah Baksh who was taken to the HFH on August 14 from Tehsil Hazro of District Attock, some 80 kilometres from Rawalpindi has been confirmed positive for CCHF on Saturday. The patient is undergoing treatment at HFH.

The confirmation of the patient has strengthened doubts that the population in the region may face a possible spike of CCHF ahead of Eidul Azha when sacrificial animals are being brought to the town in bulk.

However, it is important that Allah Baksh is not the first confirmed case of CCHF this year at the HFH. Data reveals that this year, in 2017, a total of 22 suspects of CCHF were admitted to HFH of which five were tested positive for the disease while 17 negative.  Studies reveal that the CCHF is caused by Nairovirus of the Bunyaviridae family transmitted to humans by the bite of Hyalomma tick found on the skin of animals including goat and sheep or by direct contact with the blood of an infected animal or human. The case fatality rate ranges from 2% to 50%. The CCHF was first described in Crimea in 1944 and identified in 1956 in Congo.

It is worth mentioning here that the disease was first reported in Pakistan in 1976 but the number of cases shows a dramatic rise since 2000 with 50 to 60 patients being reported annually. It is important that the CCHF is endemic in Pakistan

Allah Baksh is undergoing treatment at the HFH in isolation. He is stable, said Head of Department of Infectious Diseases at Rawalpindi Medical University Assistant Professor Dr. Muhammad Mujeeb Khan while talking to ‘The News’ on Saturday.  To avoid CCHF, he suggested that proper preventive measures should be taken while handling animals. It is better to establish water ponds carrying DEET or Potassium Permanganate and animals should be passed through it to clear their skin, he said.