‘Mosquito control is the key to dengue prevention’

44 new cases take total to 1,300, higher than 2006’s record.

KARACHI:

Now that 44 new cases of dengue fever have been registered in Sindh on Tuesday, the grand total of dengue positive cases is now 1,300. A total of 2,500 people have been brought to hospitals in Karachi, Hyderabad and Mirpur Khas out which 1,300 tested positive.



Mosquito control is the primary means of dengue prevention, agreed doctors at a lecture organised on Tuesday at the International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences, Karachi University (KU). The lecture was followed by a panel discussion organised by young researcher Maria Yousaf and doctors from different hospitals around the city participated.

A Bangladeshi scientist, Prof Dr Nurul Kabir, working at Dr Panjwani Centre for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research (PCMD), KU warned the Pakistani government to control the spread of dengue fever in the country.  One hundred and fifty-five patients are being treated in various hospitals in Sindh and the death toll for this year so far is 12.

“The incidence of dengue has grown dramatically around the world in recent decades. Two-fifths of the world’s population, about 2.5 billion people, is now at risk. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates there may be 50 million dengue infections worldwide every year. The disease is now widespread in more than 100 countries,” said Dr Kabir.

Dengue is transmitted when people are bitten by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and the peak season for contracting dengue fever is mid-August to mid-November. Most patients who fall victim to dengue have fever for two to seven days. The fever gets high towards the ending period of the disease and the recovery process may include prolonged fatigue and depression. Aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should not be taken by dengue patients while they may take paracetamol, suggested doctors.

When it comes to fighting the disease, many dengue patients admitted in government hospitals are facing problems in getting mega-platelets, because of alleged negligence on the part of medical staff. Some cell separator machines (CSM) in government hospitals across the city are out of order. Cell separating is a process in which the blood of a donor and patient is passed through an Aphaeresis Machine that separates one particular constituent and returns the remainder to circulation. These machines are mandatory tools in the battle against dengue fever.

The government still lacks a uniform policy for the provision of mega-platelets to critical patients. Patients at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), which is the biggest federal government-run hospital in Karachi, face all these issues, reported sources. The CSM is ‘out of order’ but the administration of the hospital has nothing to say about the issue and shows no interest in repairing or replacing the machine. Patients admitted in Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ABS) and Civil Hospital, Karachi (CHK) are also struggling to get platelets. However, a non-governmental organisation is providing platelets and mega units to dengue patients in the CHK, and as a result the situation there is not as bad as other hospitals.

Private hospitals, including Aga Khan Hospital and Ziauddin hospital, do provide platelets but only for patients who have been admitted in their wards.

This is an alarming situation for citizens, especially since dengue cases are on the rise in the city with nearly 3,000 reported cases this year. The hospital staff’s attitude towards dengue patients is not exactly friendly and they are being advised to get platelets from private blood banks, where each bag is sold for Rs10,000 to Rs12,000.

When Sindh Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed was informed of the situation, he said his department has provided ABS, CHK, Qatar Hospital and other government hospitals with CSMs and 1,000 dengue treatment kits per hospital. However, sources at these hospitals said these facilities have not been provided to the hospitals, at least not during this year.

JPMC Deputy Director Dr Azhar Khan said that despite fund constraints and faulty CSMs, platelets are being effectively provided to their patients. He parried a question about the exact number of dengue patients admitted in the different wards of his hospital. Since there is no tested and approved vaccine for the dengue virus, mosquito control is the primary means of dengue prevention, the panel discussion at KU concluded: prevention is the safest bet. All the experts unanimously agreed that early diagnosis is essential to ensure that correct treatment is given to the patient. They requested that the government do its part by keeping the city clean and mosquito free.

Additional reporting by PPI

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20^th, 2010.