Dengue cases in Rawalpindi soar above 450

Health dept allows hospitals to conduct PCR tests for virus at allied hospitals

RAWALPINDI: As the number of dengue fever cases in Rawalpindi soared above 450, the Punjab health department has allowed doctors in the city to carry out polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests to determine different types of fever induced by the virus, The Express Tribune has learnt.



The decision has been taken to save time in treating dengue fever patients since doctors previously had to dispatch blood samples to labs in Lahore for the tests. Pathologists at Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital, and District Headquarters Hospital said that they have started carrying out the PCR tests.

A senior doctor at the HFH told The Express Tribune that sending samples to Lahore and waiting on the results usually took three to four days. But by carrying out the test in Rawalpindi to determine the determine type of dengue virus a patient was suffering, they would be able to get the results far quicker and start appropriate treatment much earlier.



Asked about whether they had the equipment to carry out the tests, the doctor confided that machines for PCR tests were already available at the three allied hospitals but were not used for dengue tests.

The doctor said that there were four types of dengue virus; DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4. Once the type of dengue fever is established, appropriate treatment is started. If a patient contracts dengue for the second or third time, the fever becomes
more intense.



Separately, the district health department on Wednesday said they had received blood reports of 20 more patients confirming they were suffering from dengue. This raised the toll of dengue patients in Rawalpindi to over 450.

Of these, seven are from urban areas of Rawalpindi, one from rural areas of the district, one from Attock, two from Azad Kashmir, and nine from Islamabad.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2016.