A man suffering from symptoms like the Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) was admitted in the Medical Intensive Care Unit of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) on Monday.
An official of JPMC told PPI that a 35-year old man named Abdul Nabi who appeared to have symptoms of Congo fever was rushed to the emergency department of the hospital and later moved to Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
The patient’s laboratory reports are not out yet. Abdul Nabi belongs to the Quetta city of Balochistan.
JPMC Emergency Department Head Dr Seemin Jamali while talking to PPI said the patient was reported in the Emergency Department on late night hours with complaints of fever and bleeding from nose. She informed that his lab test reports will reveal if he is suffering from Congo or any other viral fever.
She further informed that Abdul Nabi is a peon in National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and added that initial reports confirmed that Abdul Nabi was not suffering from malaria and dengue but his platelets’ level is low.
On the other hand, although major public sector hospitals of Karachi have established Isolation Wards for treatment of the Congo fever but no public sector hospital has got the facility to diagnose such viral fever. The diagnostic tests for Congo fever are very costly and the poor cannot bear the expenses of diagnostic and treatment facilities.
Moreover, no anti-viral medicines are available in the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Civil Hospital Karachi or other government hospital of Karachi.
