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At Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), 41 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 481 patients with ages ranging between
6 to 82 years were admitted at AKUH between June 14 to November 4, 2006 with viral
haemorrhagic fever. Out of these, ten patients expired due to severity of disease,
while 430 recovered and were discharged. The patients suffered from symptoms ranging
from bleeding, diarrhoea, vomiting to abdominal pain.
Two hundred and twenty three 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 463 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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