Dengue fever outbreak — another record in the making

Rawalpindi

The dengue fever outbreak in the region is getting more and more intense and it seems as it is about to set another record, like the past year, for the most positive cases of the infection in a year reported at the three allied hospitals in town that have already received 1,405 confirmed patients of the infection this year.

It is important that in 2014 the total number of confirmed patients of the infection at the allied hospitals was 1,406 till November 22, at the time when the outbreak had lost its intensity, while in 2013 the total number of positive cases of dengue fever reported at the allied hospitals was 1,153 till November 30. In 2012, the district Rawalpindi enjoyed dengue-free status whereas in 2011, slightly over 800 patients were tested positive in all at the three teaching hospitals in town till November 30.

In 2015 the region faced the worst ever outbreak of dengue fever with nearly 4,000 cases confirmed positive at the three teaching hospitals in town till December, however, till the middle of October last year, the total number of patients tested positive at the allied hospitals was slightly over 1,600.

Data collected by ‘The News’ reveals that to date, a total of 722 patients have been tested positive for dengue fever at Holy Family Hospital, 562 patients have been confirmed positive at Benazir Bhutto Hospital, while as many as 121 patients have so far been tested positive at District Headquarters Hospital.

The allied hospitals in town have tested well over 230 cases of the infection positive in last three days at an average of nearly 75 patients being tested positive per day, while in last 24 hours, the allied hospitals tested as many as 78 patients positive for the infection.

The data also reveals that at least for the last one week, the number of patients undergoing treatment at the allied hospitals is continuously on the rise. On October 8, total number of patients undergoing treatment at the allied hospitals was 263, while on Saturday morning, a total of 290 patients were admitted to the wards at the allied hospitals apart from 16 patients undergoing treatment at high dependency units (HDUs).

The panic among public and severity of the ongoing dengue fever outbreak can be gauged from the fact that in last 24 hours only, the dengue fever outpatient departments set up at the allied hospitals received nearly 480 patients of which over 280 were suspected to have infection.

So far, the outbreak has claimed three lives in all at the allied hospitals. All the three patients of which one was from Islamabad and one from District Attock died at the HFH.

On Saturday morning, a total of 142 patients of dengue fever including 133 confirmed cases were undergoing treatment at the HFH. A total of 45 patients of dengue hemorrhagic fever and three patients in dengue shock syndrome, rare complications of dengue fever, were undergoing treatment at the HFH on Saturday. At least 10 patients were undergoing treatment at the HDU.  The DHF and DSS are more fatal forms of the infection and studies reveal that mortality rate among patients with these complications ranges from two to 40 per cent.

On Saturday morning, a total of 132 patients of dengue fever were undergoing treatment at the BBH, while 18 were admitted to the DHQ Hospital. The BBH was waiting for results in well over 41 probable cases of the infection on Saturday.

Article source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/157480-Dengue-fever-outbreak-another-record-in-the-making