A few doctors in public and private-sector hospitals, in a panic, are seen referring all patients with a fever for dengue tests.
“My son has a fever due to a stomach infection” said the father of a child at Jinnah Hospital. The doctor responded that the child needs to get tested for dengue first. Similar dialogues were seen being exchanged between patients and doctors in the city. Despite the slogan ‘every fever is not dengue fever’, all fever patients were being sent for a complete blood count (CBC).
Public Health Consultant Dr Shahid Malik said that in an epidemic situation, the first priority of the doctors should be clinical diagnosis for the disease and if clear symptoms of the disease were found, laboratory tests should be performed. Senior medical experts said that junior doctors were performing their duties around the clock and treating dengue patients and so panic prevailed in all hospitals and sending each patient with slightest symptoms for dengue for the laboratory tests made sense. A senior doctor at Jinnah Hospital said that the media had scared the entire community, which has resulted in such a panic. Another doctor said that in epidemic situations, it was necessary to get a patient with the slightest symptoms tested for the epidemic.
But people said that doctors should be trained to deal with a crisis situation and should not add to the panic. Mrs Aslam, a housewife, whose son suffered from a throat infection and a fever, said that the doctors’ reaction was unfortunate.
