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At Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), 52 patients are currently
hospitalized with suspect viral haemorrhagic fever; most of them 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 441 patients
with ages ranging between 6 to 82 years were admitted at AKUH between June 14
to November 2, 2006 with viral haemorrhagic fever. Out of these, nine patients
expired due to severity of disease, while 380 recovered and were discharged.
The patients suffered from symptoms ranging from bleeding, diarrhoea, vomiting
to abdominal pain.
A hundred and ninety six 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 424 patients were received from
Karachi and the remaining patients came from Larkana, Hyderabad, Thatta, Dadu,
Saedabad, Nawabshah, Gharo, Mirpurkhas, Sujawal, Rahim Yar Khan, Gilgit, Baluchistan
and Saudi Arabia.
Dr Farhat Abbas, Medical Director & Associate Dean, Clinical
Affairs, Aga Khan University Hospital.
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