ISLAMABAD: The patients of dengue fever in the federal capital (Islamabad) are facing serious diagnostic and treatment problems as the three major public sector hospitals are unable to effectively cater to the needs of the large number of patients, Business Recorder has observed.
According to official dengue-related data released by the District Health Officer (DHO) Islamabad, the federal capital this year has so far registered 5,026 dengue cases, because of which 11 patients have died.
Various dengue-affected people while talking to this correspondent revealed that this year in rural as well as urban areas dengue surveillance teams have failed to spray chemicals; as a result thousands of cases have officially been registered while thousands are not reported.
Patients said that public sector hospitals are located far away from the rural areas and labourer classes are unable to visit them to get dengue tests done while private laboratories are charging Rs1,800 to Rs2,500, which is unbearable for a common man.
The DHO Islamabad has reported 47 new cases of dengue fever in the federal capital in the last 24 hours taking the total number of dengue cases to 5,026.
As many as 31 new cases of the disease were reported in rural areas of the federal capital territory and 16 cases were from the urban areas.
So far, the infection rate is higher in rural areas in comparison to urban areas, as 2,911 cases are from rural areas, while 2,115 cases reported in urban areas of Islamabad in this season, the DHO said.
The health officer said that 16 dengue patients were admitted at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in the last 24 hours, while three cases at FGH, one patient each at the Capital Hospital and a private hospital, five patients at Holy Family Hospital Rawalpindi, three at BBH Rawalpindi, and one dengue patient admitted at DHQ, the DHO Islamabad said.
Private laboratories reported 17 dengue fever positive cases in the last 24 hours, the district health officer said.
The DHO stated that so far 11 patients have succumbed to viral dengue fever in Islamabad.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022