Hospitals fall short of beds as dengue cases rise
With patients finding it difficult to get admission to hospitals, the chief medical officer has advised health care institutions to ensure dedicated dengue wards and other facilities till such patients are coming in
LUCKNOW: Rakesh Kumar reached the Balrampur Hospital with his father who had high fever for the past two days. Suspecting that he might be suffering from dengue, the doctors advised that he should be admitted. Worse still, the patient realised that getting admission and reaching a doctor in the out patient department (OPD) was another struggle.
“The number of beds is limited. We were told to wait for some time, as one of the patients was to be discharged. Finally, I got a bed for my father and his blood samples have been sent for dengue test,” said Rakesh, after getting his father admitted.
While fever is a scare among patients, getting admission to a hospital these days is a Herculean Task. Lucknow has reported over 600 dengue cases and at least 400 patients have been admitted to hospitals this season. The Civil Hospital admitted over 300.
“We have admitted 23 dengue patients out of the 100 who tested positive and are now falling short of beds,” said Mohd Shahid Zama, chief medical superintendent (officiating) of Lok Bandhu Hospital.
“We are planning to shift some patients to another place so that more patients, as they come in, can be accommodated,” said Zama.
Dengue patients cannot be kept with other patients as there’s a risk of the others getting infected through mosquito bite, he added.
Major hospitals in the city have limited beds in the dengue ward but these are not enough to accommodate a horde of fever patients coming to the OPD.
“Every patient having fever first thinks that it might be dengue. It’s ok to be cautious, but one should not panic,” said Dr PK Gupta, former president of Indian Medical Association, Lucknow and an eminent microbiologist.
“At present, we have 54 dengue patients in three wards (male, female and paediatric) and in private wards. The maximum number of patients we had in one day was 76,” said Dr Ashutosh Dubey, medical superintendent of Civil Hospital.
At Balrampur Hospital too, beds marked for dengue patients are occupied. “We got over 80 dengue patients and about 35 required admission. I have asked the staff to manage admission of patients coming to our hospital,” said Dr Rajiv Lochan, director, Balrampur Hospital.
“In the past few days, the number of patients has gone up considerably. But no death has been reported in our hospital,” said Dr AK Singh, chief medical superintendent, Civil Hospital. The hospital has 30 beds for dengue patients, including five in the pediatric ward.
“The ward is full and dengue patients are also admitted to other wards,” he added.
The chief medical officer (Lucknow) has advised hospitals to ensure dedicated dengue wards and other facilities for patients till such patients keep coming in.
Efforts are being made to make people aware about dengue and how to prevent it. “Prevention is the key to prevent dengue. But if one takes ill, going to a doctor for proper treatment is the best option, instead of selfmedication,” said Dr Raman Kumar, president of the Academy of Family Physicians of India.
He said that dengue is a treatable disease with proper rest and medicine, hence one should not panic, even if one tests positive for it.