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At
Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), 43 patients are currently hospitalized
with suspect viral haemorrhagic fever; four patients were brought
to the Emergency Room on October 19 and the remaining were admitted
during the last two weeks. This obviously reflects a sudden increase
in the number of such cases and is a cause of concern. So far, a total
of 212 patients with ages ranging between 6 to 82 years were admitted
at AKUH between June 14 to October 19, 2006 with viral haemorrhagic
fever. Out of these, six patients expired due to severity of disease,
while 159 recovered and were discharged. The patients suffered from
symptoms ranging from bleeding, diarrhoea, vomiting to abdominal pain.
Seventy-four patients were diagnosed to have Dengue haemorrhagic
fever, three patients suffered from Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF),
while in the remaining, the special serological tests were either negative or
the results are pending. A total of 205 patients were received from Karachi
and the remaining patients came from Larkana, Hyderabad, Gilgit, Baluchistan
and Saudi Arabia.
Dr Farhat Abbas, Medical Director & Associate Dean, Clinical
Affairs, Aga Khan University Hospital.
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