Dengue kills 19-year-old as 94 more cases reported in Karachi

A 19-year-old resident of the Soldier Bazaar neighbourhood died due to complications of dengue fever at a hospital in Karachi, according to the authorities, who said that 94 dengue cases were reported in the city on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, experts said the Dengue Rapid NS1 antigen test of around 10 per cent of the patients reporting with classical symptoms of dengue infection, including high-grade fever and rapid decrease in platelets, is not coming back positive.

They said that hundreds of patients in Karachi and its adjoining areas have been getting infected with the dengue virus or showing symptoms similar to dengue fever. Since most of the specialised hospitals have very few beds left for treating dengue patients, public and private blood banks have been receiving overwhelming requests for mega units and single units of platelets.

Due to an increased demand for platelets, the Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority has issued a renewed demand for blood donations, urging healthy people to donate blood so that mega and single platelet units can be prepared for dengue patients being treated at hospitals.

“The demand for mega and single units of platelets is increasing with every passing day,” Osama Shamsi, administrator of the city’s National Institute of Blood Diseases, told The News. “Today we received around 90 donors for preparing mega and single units of platelets on requests from various public and private health facilities in Karachi.”

Shamsi said that although they have only seven patients admitted with dengue fever and infection, they have been under tremendous pressure from the patients’ relatives to admit more.

However, he added, since they are specialised in the treatment of all blood diseases, they cannot deny treatment to patients suffering from blood cancers and other diseases. “At our lab, the rate of positivity of dengue infection is around 30 per cent. If we’re conducting 100 tests, 30 of them are coming back positive for dengue.”

He said they are not admitting any dengue patient whose platelets are over 30,000, advising their attendants to keep them at home, give them plenty of fluids and fresh juice, and ensure their diet is healthy.

Clinician and haematologist Dr Saqib Ansari said that the dengue situation is worsening in the city, adding that hundreds of patients have been reporting at different public and private health facilities on a daily basis but many of them cannot find beds at the major facilities.

“Every second person is complaining of high-grade fever, and showing a decrease in platelets when their complete blood count is checked. Some 10 per cent of the people are testing negative on the Dengue Rapid NS1 antigen test.”

Advising precautionary measures against vector-borne diseases, including dengue and malaria, he said people should use mosquito nets and repellents because nothing can be done to control the growth of the mosquitoes responsible for dengue fever.

An infectious diseases expert at the Aga Khan University Hospital said they have a lot of dengue patients admitted at the facility, while the emergency room is choked with patients as well, adding that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

“For every person with symptoms, there is at least one without symptoms [and according to one study, up to seven without symptoms]. Most dengue patients will only have fever for three or four days and settle, and will never come to the clinic.”

He said that among those who come to the clinic, most do not need to be admitted and will often be treated at home. “So, it’s only a minority that is admitted.”

Replying to a query about people testing negative, he said: “Firstly, the dengue NS1 will become negative by day five of the illness. But of course, in some it may become negative a bit earlier or later. Secondly, no test is 100 per cent, and false negatives can occur.”

Dr Abdul Wahid Rajput, medical superintendent of the Sindh Infectious Diseases Hospital, said they have 47 patients admitted with dengue fever, adding that his phone has been ringing constantly for admitting patients testing positive.

“The dengue fever situation is very alarming, and people should take it seriously. If it’s not treated and the condition of a patient deteriorates, they can die due to dengue shock syndrome. It’s a fatal disease for 10 to 15 per cent of the patients.”

Several other physicians have advised people to take precautionary measures, saying that if they test positive, they should take plenty of fluids and get their platelets checked twice a day from a good lab.

The experts also advised that if a dengue patient’s platelets drop below 60,000 or 50,000, they should try to get admitted at any specialised health facility.