Need for counsels to impart medical knowledge stressed
Majority of suspected dengue cases this season proved to be suffering from other diseases.
ISLAMABAD:
The majority of suspected dengue cases this season proved to be suffering from other diseases. The dengue scare had patients as well as hospital staff stamping the label and searching for platelets to infuse at the first sign of a symptom. A senior physician in a government hospital stressed the need for educating people about such diseases more extensively.
Talking to The Express Tribune on conditions of anonymity, he said that the major cause for panic was the lack of counselling to patients and attendants.
“A counselor is just as important as a doctor, in fact counseling helps the patient recover more then medicine does,” he said.
Dr Ahmed Rasheed, a senior physician at Polyclinic hospital said that since the outbreak of dengue fever, more than 300 suspected patients came to the emergency ward and outpatient department (OPD) of the hospital. Of these, only 94 were diagnosed positive.
The season conducive to dengue is almost coming to end but patients are still visiting hospitals, this has not happened before.
“Due to the rush and shortage of time, it is difficult for doctors to individually counsel patients and attendants,” he said. “A professional specially dedicated for this work should be available in every hospital,” he added.
Such a counsellor can create awareness about the disease, its symptoms and prevention. He can also advise the patients/attendants the ups and down which will come during treatment.
Zafar Riaz, a brother of a suspected dengue fever patient discharged recently from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) said that there was no one to educate them about the disease.
“I did not know whether my brother was a congo fever patient or a dengue patient, I kept making queries about both the diseases but neither doctors nor paramedic staff gave me a satisfactory response,” he added.
He said there should be two or three counselors available in all hospitals around the clock, especially during such outbreaks.
Yasir Hussain is a resident of Chakwal and was attending a dengue fever patient admitted in the Holy Family Hospital Rawalpindi’s isolation ward. He said, in Chakwal the doctors in government hospitals straight away refer patient even with minor temperatures to the Islamabad and Rawalpindi Hospitals saying that it is a critical case.
“It has become too difficult for us to bring our patients here as it costs a lot then after learning about the disease here in hospitals it becomes harder to arrange blood donors,” he added.
“So far nothing has been done in Chakwal to educate people about dengue fever,” he added.
Dr Nasir Mehmood, Executive District Officer (EDO) Health Chakwal while denying the allegations said that the outbreak of dengue fever in the city was under control.
He said so far 490 suspected cases were reported in Chakwal, out of which 175 were positive. Besides this 76 cases were referred to the Rawalpindi/ Islamabad hospitals and claimed that the rest went there on their own.
Mehmood said that the government is running an aggressive campaign in the city to educate people about dengue fever, its prevention and treatment.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2010.
The majority of suspected dengue cases this season proved to be suffering from other diseases. The dengue scare had patients as well as hospital staff stamping the label and searching for platelets to infuse at the first sign of a symptom. A senior physician in a government hospital stressed the need for educating people about such diseases more extensively.
Talking to The Express Tribune on conditions of anonymity, he said that the major cause for panic was the lack of counselling to patients and attendants.
“A counselor is just as important as a doctor, in fact counseling helps the patient recover more then medicine does,” he said.
Dr Ahmed Rasheed, a senior physician at Polyclinic hospital said that since the outbreak of dengue fever, more than 300 suspected patients came to the emergency ward and outpatient department (OPD) of the hospital. Of these, only 94 were diagnosed positive.
The season conducive to dengue is almost coming to end but patients are still visiting hospitals, this has not happened before.
“Due to the rush and shortage of time, it is difficult for doctors to individually counsel patients and attendants,” he said. “A professional specially dedicated for this work should be available in every hospital,” he added.
Such a counsellor can create awareness about the disease, its symptoms and prevention. He can also advise the patients/attendants the ups and down which will come during treatment.
Zafar Riaz, a brother of a suspected dengue fever patient discharged recently from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) said that there was no one to educate them about the disease.
“I did not know whether my brother was a congo fever patient or a dengue patient, I kept making queries about both the diseases but neither doctors nor paramedic staff gave me a satisfactory response,” he added.
He said there should be two or three counselors available in all hospitals around the clock, especially during such outbreaks.
Yasir Hussain is a resident of Chakwal and was attending a dengue fever patient admitted in the Holy Family Hospital Rawalpindi’s isolation ward. He said, in Chakwal the doctors in government hospitals straight away refer patient even with minor temperatures to the Islamabad and Rawalpindi Hospitals saying that it is a critical case.
“It has become too difficult for us to bring our patients here as it costs a lot then after learning about the disease here in hospitals it becomes harder to arrange blood donors,” he added.
“So far nothing has been done in Chakwal to educate people about dengue fever,” he added.
Dr Nasir Mehmood, Executive District Officer (EDO) Health Chakwal while denying the allegations said that the outbreak of dengue fever in the city was under control.
He said so far 490 suspected cases were reported in Chakwal, out of which 175 were positive. Besides this 76 cases were referred to the Rawalpindi/ Islamabad hospitals and claimed that the rest went there on their own.
Mehmood said that the government is running an aggressive campaign in the city to educate people about dengue fever, its prevention and treatment.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2010.