Lahore blamed for dengue in Multan?

"Multan was dengue free, until visitors to Lahore brought it back", claims Nishtar Hospital medical superintendent.

MULTAN: Out of the five dengue patients admitted in the hospital, only one patient belonged to Multan, Nishtar Hospital medical superintendent Dr Zafar Niazi said on Wednesday.  He said that these patients had received dengue virus during their stay in Lahore. “Multan was dengue free, until visitors to Lahore brought it back here,” he added.

Earlier this week, seven patients were admitted to Nishtar hospital, out of which four were diagnosed with the dengue fever. Two of them were discharged after their test came out as negative, whereas one of the patients was awaiting test results.

The patients included Mansoor, Altaf and Iftikhar Ahmed from Dera Ghazi Khan; and Shahid from Kot Addu.

Saeed Ahmed’s young son Salman, resident of the Shah Shams area was also admitted in the hospital. His parents said that Salman was suffering from high fever for the last one week. He was being treated in the area clinic, but his condition was deteriorating, his father said.

After the blood test, Salman was diagnosed with dengue fever. He was then shifted to Nishtar Hospital.

The hospital administration said that Altaf and Mansoor had already been discharged after their condition had improved. There were only three patients currently under treatment, they said. The patients were kept in an isolation room in ward 27, set up especially for the dengue patients.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2010.