Dengue outbreak: More patients coming in than leaving STH

MINGORA: More patients are being admitted for dengue virus than being discharged at the Saidu Teaching Hospital, (STH) as 54 new cases were confirmed on Sunday alone.

According to Dr Wasil Ahmed, the focal person at STH, the total number of confirmed cases at the hospital is 1,468, while 1,195 have been discharged till now.

“Nearly 265 patients with dengue are hospitalised at the moment, including 16 children, 176 men and 73 women,” said Dr Ahmed.

He added 48 people have fully recovered and gone home. “Six cases are complicated and four are in the Intensive Care Unit, but they are stable,” he added.

While no fatality was reported on Sunday, dengue has taken lives of five people in the district. Data collected from private laboratories puts the number of infected people at over 6,000. The virus has also reached other districts, including Mardan, and emergency meetings have been called to fumigate areas on priority basis.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2013.