No chikungunya testing kits at govt hospitals

Patients forced to get tests done at private labs

KARACHI:

Amid a spurt in vector-borne disease in the metropolis, chikungunya testing kits are not available in public hospitals. Medical experts have feared an increase in all these cases due to the rains.

Poor sanitation conditions and lack of measures to prevent mosquito breeding have led to an alarming rise in dengue, malaria and chikungunya cases in the city.

More than 50 patients are reporting on a daily basis at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and Dr Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospitals with telltale symptoms, including fever, cold and body pain. Dr Irfan Siddiqui at the Civil Hospital emergency department said that some patients are infected with dengue, malaria and chikungunya.

General Physician at JPMC, Dr Faisal Javed, said it is not necessary that the test is always positive. He said that in about five per cent of cases, the infection does not show up in the test report.

Due to lack of chikungunya testing kits in government hospitals and diagnostic laboratories, tests have become expensive. People depending on free public healthcare find it difficult to afford pathological tests from private laboratories.

Many health practitioners are diagnosing the infection through the CBC test.