Dengue virus carriers: Health expert for check-up of incoming passengers

Another dengue patient at Holy Family Hospital found to have contracted virus abroad.

RAWALPINDI:

A health official has called for medical check-ups of incoming international passengers to ensure they are not carriers of the dengue virus, as another dengue positive patient who contracted the virus abroad, was recently admitted to a Rawalpindi hospital.

The new case brings the number of dengue positive patients to two since January. Both the patients, who were admitted to the Holy Family Hospital (HFH) Rawalpindi, had contracted the virus in Saudi Arabia, according to the health official.

HFH’s Dengue Ward is currently treating 22 probable dengue cases.



The ward’s deputy medical superintendent Dr Tahir Sharif while talking to The Express Tribune expressed his reservation about the loopholes which allow passengers to enter Pakistan without any prior vaccination or medical check-ups.

“We have been bound to get ourselves vaccinated against the poliovirus before travelling abroad but no one is giving attention to the issue of incoming passengers who might be possible carriers of dengue virus or other diseases,” he said.

Sharif added that luckily the patient who had contracted the dengue virus in Saudi Arabia arrived at the hospital directly from the airport on his own. He said the patient was under serious condition when he was admitted.

“Otherwise, there is no mechanism to carry out medical check-ups of passengers arriving from high-risk countries and we don’t know how many more dengue patients might have landed in Pakistan by now,” he said, emphasizing the need to take up the matter with such countries.

Sharif said any patient who was not in a serious condition but has contracted the virus could be a potential source for vectors carrying on the disease and transmitting it onto others.

“In a situation like this, all steps and precautionary measures taken by the government will remain useless unless these loopholes are secured,” he said.

The dengue ward offered an immediate check-up facility for suspected dengue patients, which takes about four hours to prepare a final report.

“The test involves taking into account the history and location of the patients along with a complete picture of white blood cells count through a blood test,” he said.

Sharif explained that chances for getting seriously affected by the disease  or even dying increase if a patient contracts the virus for the second time.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2015.