Hyderabad: While the government’s denial continues, the line at Fever Hospital, the yardstick for fevers in the state, refuses to reduce as there were more than 800 out-patients on Saturday too.
Doctors state that in the last three days, the number of patients has again increased in government and private hospitals. The sporadic rains are believ-ed to be the culprit as the dengue mosquito continues to thrive in stagnant water collecting frequently.
A senior citizen, Abdul Qadeer, whose son, Mohammed, was diagnosed with dengue got the token number 90 at Fever Hospital. This was at 1 am in the night. Angry, he demanded that the child be seen early as he was running a very high fever.
But the doctors insisted that he had to wait and that they will not see the patient out of turn. These scenes are becoming more common as the waiting time is increasing due to the continuous load of the patients.
There are 10 counters which have been set up at the hospital and despite that the waiting time is not reducing.
A senior doctor at Fever Hospital explained, “We are not only handling the out-patient department but also the in-patients. There are morning rounds and other duties also which have to be done. There are ten counters but at any given point of time only five are able to function. There is no time to eat or even sleep for us. There are doctors also who are suffering from fever and you can’t expect them to work.”
On Saturday, there were 20 patients of dengue in Osmania General Hospital and 15 in Fever Hospital. At the area hospital too, doctors state that the number of dengue cases are more than other fever cases.
A senior government doctor explained, “Those children who come with good blood count are being advised to be treated at home only. We are insisting that admission is not required as it can be managed at home. Only critical cases are being taken up.”
Rough estimates in the city shows that dengue deaths are less than one per cent. The people are being advised to not panic and that it is a treatable disease.
Other family members are also being told to observe prevention methods as that will help them.
There have been more than 100 health camps organised in various corners of the city and free medicines are also being distributed by non-government organisations.
