PHOTO: STANFORD/FILE
PESHAWAR:
A patient admitted to the Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) tested positive for the Congo virus on Saturday.
According to an official at the hospital, 26-year-old Mir Afghan, son of Mir Yaqoob and resident of Kabul, Afghanistan, was brought to HMC three days ago and is being kept in isolation in Medical Ward A. There is, however, no isolation ward at HMC.
“The patient had high fever and was bleeding from the nose,” said the official. He added blood samples were sent to Aga Khan Hospital, Karachi for testing and the results indicated Afghan had contracted the Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, commonly known as Congo virus or Congo fever.
The affected patient is a butcher by profession and last year two of his brothers were also infected by the virus, out of which one died, shared the HMC official.
“In 2013, six patients who tested positive for the Congo virus were admitted at HMC. Two were from Afghanistan, two from Khyber Agency, one each from Waziristan and Wazir Bagh, Peshawar,” he added. At that time, there were also no relevant medicines available at the hospital and thus the patients were shifted to Karachi or Islamabad, he explained.
HMC Spokesperson on Infectious Diseases Dr Wali Rehman said there is no specific isolation ward at the hospital but the patient is being kept in a separate room. “The hospital does not have Congo specialists so the available doctors are treating him and they are adopting precautionary measures as well,” shared Rehman.
He maintained Afghan will remain at the hospital and at the moment there is no fear of the virus spreading to others.
KTH Chief Executive Inayat Shah Roghani told The Express Tribune after the death of a swine flu patient earlier this year, the hospital’s management purchased the necessary medication to protect its staff. However, it still does not have adequate medicine to protect people from the Congo virus.
Because of a lack of facilities to treat Congo fever in most parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, all infected patients are brought to hospitals in Peshawar, added Roghani.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 27th, 2014.
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The virus is extremely dangerous. I advise everybody to protect themselves from this dangerous virus. Immediately move to doctor when you feel any of its symptoms.