Health records: Respiratory infection most common ailment

Fifth of all patients at govt hospitals reported respiratory trouble.

LAHORE:

Respiratory infection is the most commonly reported ailment in the Punjab, with almost a fifth of the 17,950,550 patients who visited outpatient departments at public hospitals in the first quarter of 2012 suffering from breathing problems, according to data compiled by the Health Department.

A total of 3,630,678 people, or 18.81 per cent of patients, visited hospitals with acute respiratory infections. The second-most common ailment was diarrhoea/dysentery, with 707,831 reported cases (3.67 per cent).

According to the data, 7,957,319 (46 per cent) of the patients were male and 9,993,231 (56 per cent) female, showing that women fell sick more than men.

According to the official count, 52 per cent of the Punjab’s population is female.

The largest proportion of patients was in the age group 14-49.

The third-most common ailment diagnosed at public hospitals was fever, with a total of 653,143 patients (3.38 per cent) suffering from fever due to various causes.

Scabies was the fourth-most common disease with 647,870 patients (3.36 per cent), followed by peptic ulcer diseases with 479,302 patients (2.48 per cent); hypertension with 407,413 patients; asthma with 378,685 patients (1.96 per cent); dental problems with 362,360 patients (1.88 per cent); diabetes with 277,808 patients (1.44 per cent); and urinary tract infections with 253,128 reported complaints (1.31 per cent) in the first quarter of 2012.

The data also records 75,801 cases of suspected viral hepatitis, 13,297 cases of liver cirrhosis and 12,655 cases of sexually transmitted diseases, including 4,400 suspected AIDS/HIV patients.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2012.