Dengue claims five lives in Karachi

Around 2,000 infected with dengue virus in Sindh while more are diagnosed with the disease throughout the country.

Five people died due of dengue fever in Karachi as a massive outbreak of the dengue virus is occurring in many parts of the country.

At least 950 patients have been diagnosed with the dengue virus in Karachi, Hyderabad, Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

According to the Dengue Surveillance Cell, 1,889 patients were brought in hospitals in Karachi with symptoms of the virus, but have not been diagnosed yet.

Around 940 dengue patients belong to Karachi, whereas two have been confirmed in Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, nine cases of dengue fever have been confirmed in Lahore and four in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The Punjab government has planned to conduct an increased aerial spraying to control the fast-growing outbreak of the disease.

So far, more than 150 patients with dengue symptoms have been admitted in Benazir Shaheed Hospital, Holy Family and PIMS hospital in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

An earlier report in The Express Tribune stated that dengue virus was being grossly underreported as there was a gross discrepancy between government and private hospital statistics.

Origin and symptoms

The Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which is a vector for the virus, is a clean water mosquito and breeds in clean, stagnant water pools.

Break-bone fever, named after the severity of pain experienced by the patient, is one of the symptoms of dengue. Symptoms include intense pain in bones, severe headaches, especially behind the eyeballs, excessive bleeding through gums, nose and mouth and blood in urine and stool.

In the initial stages, doctors recommend medication, such as aspirin and ibuprofen, large intake of water and proper rest. The fatality rate for patients in primary stages of dengue is about one per cent. This rate escalates, however, to about 50 per cent for those who remain untreated.

Once bleeding starts and the patients develop haemorrhagic fever then their platelet count needs to be checked.

If it is significantly lower than normal, between 20,000 and 50,000, a transfusion is required. Depending on the intensity of the fever, the body weight of the patient and the platelet count, bags of mega platelets are transfused, with each bag costing Rs10,000.