A 14-year-old dengue patient from Sangjani died at the Holy Family Hospital (HFH), taking the death toll to 10 in Rawalpindi. Mohammad Saad arrived at HFH displaying symptoms of the dengue virus. He had previously been admitted to a private hospital for three days, before being shifted to HFH on Saturday. HFH Medical Superintendent Dr Tariq Niazi confirmed the boy’s death on Saturday evening. He said the number of dengue patients was steadily increasing, with over 33 patients arriving on Saturday.Taxila Assistant Commissioner Shahid Imran said that the local administration in Taxila had probed the death of the teenager, and that the patient was admitted to a private hospital where he was not properly diagnosed and treated. He said a report of the mishandling of the case by a hospital in Sangjani and a laboratory in Wah Cantonment had been forwarded to the Rawalpindi commissioner for further legal action. Meanwhile, the Punjab chief minister has taken notice of the first confirmed dengue fatality in the Taxila tehsil and has asked for a report from the concerned officials. Four years on, though, it is evident that the issue has not been dealt with firmly enough to bring it entirely under control. So far this season, in the Rawalpindi/Islamabad area, over 2,500 cases have been reported and the death of a teenager in Holy Family Hospital on Sunday brought up the number of lives lost to 10. Lahore has fared better with only one death so far, but dozens of people have been infected and are in need of treatment; Karachi has so far seen at least seven deaths, and the reporting of dozens of cases.There are two problems in the government’s fight against dengue. First, there is the lack of consistency in carrying out fumigation drives and the areas they cover. Where, on the one hand, there are locations where spraying has never taken place, or has taken place too sporadically to be effective, on the other there are examples of folly such as that in Attock last month when dozens of schoolgirls fainted because of over-spraying in poorly ventilated premises. Secondly, and much more shamefully, even now — several years after ‘dengue’ has become a familiar term in every household in the country — it is still being reported that the contraction of the virus is not necessarily being properly identified in medical facilities, and that medical staff are slow in conducting tests and providing treatment. Until these loopholes are plugged, more will continue to die. Is it too much to ask that provincial administrations sort themselves out?
pk.shafaqna.com
