LAHORE: Liu had had little idea of viral diseases, let alone dengue, in his entire life. Being a civil engineer from the Sichuan University, China, working on a Punjab government project in Lahore, it was the last thing he should be bothered about.
As an employee of the state-owned China Construction Company, completion of the Lahore Technology Park had mainly occupied his mind throughout his three years in the city. It was almost ten days ago that he heard of the deadly dengue for the first time, and that too after being diagnosed with the virus himself.
“I was scared to death after I was diagnosed with dengue; it’s natural as we have not heard of it in China. Initially I was admitted to Ittefaq Hospital but then they brought me here [Jinnah Hospital] just today [Tuesday]. I’m still suffering from temperature and my body is aching,” said the 37-year-old Liu.
Liu is one of the 250 Chinese employees working on the Lahore Technology Park and not the only one who caught dengue. In a room opposite to his medical unit laid his colleague Li, a worker, who was also shifted from Ittefaq Hospital because of his deteriorating condition. Two of the workers are still admitted in the Ittefaq Hospital while six Chinese workers have been discharged after they recovered.
Both Liu and Li are being attended by several Chinese colleagues and officials of the Punjab China Bureau. “Initially all of them were kept at the Ittefaq Hospital but some of them won’t recover, so we informed the authorities in Beijing, who sought help from the health department through the embassy and both of them have been shifted here.
Liu is worried about his wife and a seven-year-old son back home and wants to go back to China, but we strongly believe in Pak-China friendship and have persuaded him to stay here,” Ma, an architect and Liu’s colleague, told Pakistan Today.
When asked about the treatment facilities, smiling Liu said, “We are satisfied here, in fact we feel lucky getting all these facilities.” Allama Iqbal Medical College Principal Professor Javed Akram, who came over to check the patients, said both the patients are out of danger and will recover soon. “Although we are already overstretched as you can see, we will offer our best to them,” Akram said.
147 cases of dengue reported in last 24 hrs
LAHORE: According to a report by Communicable Diseases Control Cell of Health Department, 147 cases of dengue fever were reported from Lahore and 23 from other districts of the province in the last 24 hours.
According to the report, 1998 dengue patients have returned to their homes after recovery with170 are still under treatment in various hospitals. Meanwhile, 16 cases of dengue fever have been reported from Mayo Hospital, 11 from Jinnah Hospital, two from Services Hospital, one from PGMI, 40 from Sheikh Zayed Hospital Lahore, one from Kot Khawaja Saeed Hospital, five from Institute of Public Health, two from Government Nawaz Sharif Hospital Lahore, six from Mian Munshi Hospital, 14 from Lahore General Hospital, two from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, two from Federal Government Medical Centre, one from Fouji Foundation Hospital, one from Fatima Memorial Hospital Lahore while 10 from Allied Hospital Faisalabad, 49 from Private Hospitals, two from EDO Health Mianwali and 5 from DOH Narowal during the last 24 hours. The total number of dengue patients in Lahore so far is 1825 and 2129 in the whole province. Staff Report
