ISLAMABAD: A dengue patient was admitted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) on Sunday.

Pims Media Coordinator Dr Waseem Khawaja told Dawn that the woman patient was brought to the hospital by her relatives from Peshawar, which has been facing an outbreak of dengue.

Though two cases of dengue from Peshawar have already been confirmed in Islamabad, the first case from the federal capital was reported on Saturday.

Dr Khawaja said an isolation ward had been established at Pims for the patients affected with dengue.

“However, it is expected that in coming days the number of dengue patients will start increasing rapidly. We are ready to provide treatment to every patient but arrangements should also be made to eradicate the mosquitoes which are responsible for the spread of the disease.”

He said there was a high threat of the disease in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi so the residents should be very careful.

“Cleanliness is the major resistance against dengue so the citizens should keep their houses clean. They should not leave freshwater in the open because the dengue mosquito lays eggs in it,” he said.

“Moreover, if people have fever and feel pain in the abdomen they should only take paracetamol tablets rather than other medicines,” Dr Khawaja said.

Dengue is spread by the bite of the mosquito, and causes platelet deficiency in patients.

Platelet transfusions are required as a patient’s blood does not retain its normal clotting ability, and if timely treatment is not provided the disease can turn into the life-threatening dengue hemorrhagic fever, which may lead to bleeding, low platelet levels and blood plasma leakage, or into dangerously low blood pressure known as dengue shock syndrome.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2017