205 dengue patients admitted in Pindi hospitals

Hospitals’ administrations now seeking to expand space in dengue wards

RAWALPINDI: Dengue fever seems to be uncontrollable for the Rawalpindi administration as allied hospitals have reported several positive cases during the last two weeks.

Up to 205 patients are still admitted in these hospitals while 472 were discharged during the past two weeks. At the moment, 78 patients are undergoing treatment at Holy Family Hospital, 80 in Benazir Bhutto General Hospital (BBGH) and 47 in District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital.

Some 3,967 patients approached the hospitals with complaints of dengue symptoms. However 1,708 of them tested negative for dengue. Up to 303 patients were declared ‘dengue-free patients’ in initial examination and released.

The influx of patients has created difficulties for the hospitals as well while the hospitals’ administrations. The administrations are now seeking to expand space in dengue wards.

The overall cleanliness condition also seems dissatisfactory in various areas of the garrison city which is, thus, a major source of dengue larvae breeding. In this regard, the administration had initiated a crash programme in sensitive areas since the past three days.

Residents at risk

The battle of jurisdiction between twin cities’ administrations has given time for dengue larvae to breed along Soan River. The residents of Christian Colony, Gulistan Colony, High Court Road, Airport Housing Society, Gulbahar Colony, Wukla Colony, Kot Jabbi, Mumtaz Town, Car Chowk and adjoining areas have become vulnerable to dengue mosquito bites as the administration was still busy figuring out whether the areas fell under their remits.

The residents living along the bank of Soan River complained that there was no fumigation in their areas even though the fumigation and other related processes had started with dengue season approaching every year.

In this regard, Kot Jabbi resident Raja Tausif told The Express Tribune that his area was amongst the areas prone to dengue fever. He expressed that banks of Soan River were proving to be the perfect growth habitat for dengue larvae while poor cleanliness and stagnant water in the area was icing on the cake.

Tausif said that there was a dengue patient in every house and added, “There are five patients in some houses.”

He expressed satisfaction on healthcare facilities being provided in the hospitals but criticised the administration’s apathy to eradicate larvae growth.

He said that the residents had been getting passed back and forth between the capital city administration and the Rawalpindi administration so they were still unsure about their jurisdictions.

He said that the ignorance on part of administrations had put thousands of lives at risk.

According to statistics available with BBGH, more than 200 patients from Gulzar-e-Quaid, Soan Camp, Lalazar and adjoining areas approached the Outpatient Department (OPD) with complaints of sickness. They were released by doctors with advice to approach the hospital again in two-three days if they did not get better.

After backlash from the public, the District Health Authority (DHA) started fumigation in related areas on Tuesday while Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) was dewatering plots, streets and different cattle farms in related areas.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2019.