No isolation wards: Congo virus poses threat to K-P

Health official terms lack of specialised facility alarming

PESHAWAR: With no isolation wards at the province’s hospitals, Congo virus patients coming from Afghanistan have become a serious threat to the locals and even medics.

At least 20 suspected Congo virus cases have been registered in the last seven months. Blood samples of 18 were obtained. Laboratory reports showed nine as positive; six of those have already died. Almost all the patients were brought to HMC. Recently, Moed Khan, a 16-year old Afghan national, died at the hospital whereas Hidayat and Saeeda Bibi from Jalalabad, Afghanistan are still being provided medical assistance at the facility.

“Two people arrived from within Peshawar to Hayatabad Medical Complex, whereas the rest were Afghan nationals,” a senior health official told The Express Tribune. He said the HMC administration had warned the government repeatedly but the officials seemed least bothered.

The health official, requesting anonymity, said the virus was dangerous enough that it could harm even the medics. He said most of the hospital staffers are reluctant to treat patients due to a lack of adequate safety measures and the risk that the virus poses. “Private rooms have been specified for such patients. However, these rooms are frequented by visitors who are themselves at risk,” he said.

A senior nurse, also requesting anonymity, told The Express Tribune once a doctor at a private health facility in Peshawar got infected with the virus.

When asked, K-P Health Secretary Mushtaq Jadoon said the government has issued directives to specify social welfare department’s inns for the said purpose, adding two places have already been identified.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2015.