Over 2,500 gastro patients reported at PIMS in Ramazan

Islamabad : Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences has received over 2,500 patients with gastroenteritis, the water and food-borne infections, in the first four days of holy month of Ramazan.

Majority of the patients being reported at PIMS with gastro are those who are fasting and it was observed that they contracted water and food-borne infections mainly because of carelessness in eating either at the time of ‘Sehr’ or ‘Iftar’, said Deputy Director at PIMS Dr. Waseem Ahmed Khawaja while talking to ‘The News’ on Sunday.

He added the PIMS received a total of well over, 3,000 patients with gastro since the first of Ramazan this year however nearly 500 of the patients were children below the age of 12 years.

He said that on average, as many as 500 to 700 patients with gastro were reaching PIMS daily of which 20 per cent were found to be suffering from severe dehydration and they needed admission to the hospital.

He added that nearly 50 per cent of all cases of gastro being reported at the PIMS reach hospital in emergency within an hour after ‘Sehr’ in the morning or after ‘Iftar’, in the evening.

He said majority of patients being reported at PIMS with gastro are with electrolyte imbalance and the hospital has to give intravenous fluids for rehydration to over 50 per cent of the gastro patients reaching hospital.

Like the past, this year too, the incidence of water and food-borne infections is on the rise since the advent of Ramazan and mainly it is because of careless attitude of public towards diet, said Dr. Khawaja. The number one cause of gastroenteritis among the patients reported at PIMS was found to be food poisoning, he said.

He added that it has also been observed that majority of gastro patients reported at the hospital after falling prey to dehydration, the main complication of the infection. There is a need to make people aware of the fact that dehydration may cause life-threatening complications, he said.

Individuals must avoid loss of fluids and electrolytes particularly when having complaints of diarrhoea and vomiting and in case of developing symptoms of gastro, a patient should break open the fast to avoid complications, he said.

Generally, gastroenteritis is water and food borne bacterial infections whose main symptoms include vomiting, fever, severe diarrhoea with dehydration and lowering of blood pressure. Contaminated food and unsafe drinking water cause a sharp increase in number of patients with diseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera, gastro, typhoid and hepatitis A&E particularly in summer.

People who fast regularly should avoid eating unhygienic food from vendors during Ramazan and should use boiled water for drinking to avoid water and food-borne infections, said Dr. Khawaja.

He added that a patient of gastro with severe complications should not fast as it may cause ulcers in large intestine. After recovery, the patient should take at least three to five litres of safe drinking water from ‘Iftar’ to ‘Sehr’ while opting for fasting, said Dr. Khawaja.