KARACHI, Oct 13: As many as 34 of the nearly 200 patients admitted to four hospitals in the city since October 1 are confirmed to have contracted dengue fever, while blood test reports of many others admitted to government hospitals are yet to be received.

According to the data gathered by Dawn on Friday, the Liaquat National Hospital, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Aga Khan University Hospital and Civil Hospital Karachi received a total of 189 patients with a history of high-grade fever and bleeding from nose and gums from October 1 to 13, out of whom five succumbed to their diseases.

The latest death from suspected viral haemorrhagic fever occurred on October 10 and he was a 22-year-old youth under treatment at the JPMC.

Health experts on Friday have came out with criticism of the CDGK officials who have been claiming that the situation is well in control and have expressed optimism in this regard while the dengue outbreak continues to send more suspected cases to hospitals.

“Keeping in view the fact that the death toll, the number of patients being admitted to hospitals and the cases diagnosed dengue- or congo-positive continued to rise with each passing day, the CDGK officials concerned must now rise to occasion and ensure effective fumigation or fogging of drugs to eliminate mosquitoes in order to prevent the situation getting really out of control,” they stressed.

Independent sources also fear that the number of dengue-positive cases could rise with the receipt of the blood test reports of about 45 patients, under treatment at the CHK and JPMC, from the National Institute of Health, Islamabad.

Moreover, the data of VHF cases from six government and private hospitals is also yet to be submitted with the authorities. Two major medical universities, not so far listed in the provincial health department’s monitoring exercise, and a good number of hospitals in private and public sector have also been receiving such cases and should be brought in the surveillance net, said a senior doctor.

When contacted, chief medical officer of the Hill Park Hospital, Dr Shafaq, admitted that 8-10 patients suspected of having contracted VHF had been brought to the hospital. However, the CMO added, the patients needing isolation were not being kept there for long and referred to some other private hospital.

In the meantime, the focal person for dengue fever monitoring exercise in Sindh, Capt Dr Abdul Majid, who is Additional Health Secretary, Sindh, has said that the number of patients with suspected VHF admitted to private and public sector hospitals between June 1 and October 13 had crossed the figure of 650 while the death toll stood at 17.

According to Dr Majid, there were 123 in-house patients of suspected or confirmed dengue fever on Friday. Of them Aga Khan University Hospital has 27 cases (no new), LNH has 22 cases (no new), CHK has 12 cases (three new), Dr Ziauddin Hospital has 31 cases (nine new); JPMC has 25 cases (seven new), Bismillah Taqi Hospital has four cases (one new) and Hamid Hospital Quaidabad has two fresh admission cases.

The dengue virus appeared not limited to Karachi now as at least one dengue-positive case has been reported admitted on October 4 to the Sukkur Civil Hospital. The patient has since been discharged after having recovered, according to Dr Majid.

When contacted, the Assistant Medical Officer at the LNH, Dr Shaukat Ali Rajput, said that a total of 71 patients had been admitted to this hospital and 40 of them discharged since October 1. One of the patients died on October 9, he said, adding that four patients were diagnosed dengue-positive while blood reports of another five were still awaited. He said that 21 of these patients were found not infected with dengue virus.

Latest of the suspected VHF patients was confirmed dengue-positive received on October 7. The patients’ age ranged between 30 and 75 and they came from Shah Faisal Colony, Sultan Goth, Pak Khoso Town Khokhrapar, North Karachi and Korangi in Karachi. Some patients came from Quetta, Khipro and other places, said Dr Rajput.

Of the 55 admitted at the KU hospital since October 1, 20 were found dengue-positive.

The Medical Director of AKU, Dr Farhat Abbas, said that a majority of the patients admitted to this hospital had been brought during the last two weeks, which obviously reflected a sudden increase in the number of such cases and was a cause of concern.

He said that as many as 116 patients aged between six and 82 years had been admitted since June 14. Out of them, six died due to the severity of disease while 83 recovered and were discharged. These patients suffered from symptoms ranging from bleeding, diarrhoea and vomiting to abdominal pain.

As many as 45 patients were diagnosed dengue-positive, three patients suffered from Crimean Congo Fever, while the special serological tests of the remaining ones were either awaited or appeared to be negative. A total of 111 patients were received from Karachi whereas the others came from Larkana (one), Balochistan (three) and Saudi Arabia (one), Dr Abbas added.

The executive director of JPMC Dr Mashoor Alam told Dawn that of the 35 patients admitted there since October 1, two died from dengue whereas the others were either recovering or had been discharged after being provided treatment. Two of the VHF patients have been found dengue-positive while blood reports of 15-20 others were awaited.

The patients came from across the city, including the localities like Manzoor Colony, Mansehra Colony, Baldia, Al-Karam Square (F B Area), Zia Colony, Liaquatabad, Defence, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Nasir Colony, Malir, Korangi, Landhi and Umer Marvi Colony.

In reply to a question, Dr Alam said that JPMC was actively considering setting up a serological test lab on its premises and efforts were being made to acquire standard equipment for the purpose. If things went in right direction, the lab would be set up shortly, he added.

The Medical Superintendent of CHK, Dr Kaleem Butt, said that since October 1, this hospital received 28 suspected VHF cases, eight of whom had been found dengue-positive, while two patients, both women, died on October 2.

He said that the continued arrival of such patients had given to understand that there dengue was a potential threat to public health in the city and concerted efforts, both on preventive and clinical side, were needed to be made to cope with the situation.

He said that six patients were brought to the CHK in August 2006 whereas another 28 in September. During the 13 days of October, the figure of suspected VHF cases had already risen to 28, he added.

The EDO Health, Dr A. D. Sajnani said that about 127 suspected VHF cases had been admitted to different hospitals in the city during the last one week, and they were under observation. “As per my information, about 16 such patients have died in hospitals so far,” he added.