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Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=147281
Crimean-Congo fever suspect admitted to BBH
Monday, November 17, 2008
By Muhammad Qasim
Rawalpindi
Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) received a patient, Arshad, aged 27, with severe bleeding disorder on Saturday night, however, senior doctors at the hospital have suspected him a case of deadly Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) on Sunday evening.
Arshad, who belongs to Hazro, Attock, reached the BBH with continued, uncontrolled, nasal and throat bleeding. On Saturday night, his platelets count was recorded as 2,000 that for a normal person ranges from 150,000 to 400,000. He was brought to the BBH from his native town after being suspected as a case of dengue hemorrhagic fever.
?His condition is becoming more and more critical with the passage of time while his bleeding disorder has got more intense convincing us to suspect him a patient of deadly CCHF,? said Head of Medical Unit at the BBH Professor Dr Shoaib Shafi, who is supervising Arshad?s treatment.
While talking to ?The News? Sunday evening, Dr Shoaib said, ?Arshad?s bleeding disorder is so much intense that he starts bleeding when touched by a doctor. I believe that his blood vessels have been blocked however we have started treatment protocol of CCHF on him.? He added that they are going to give Arshad high dosage of anti-viral drug, oral ribavarin.
He said the hospital is going to send his blood sample to National Institute of Health, Islamabad, for Congo serology. ?I have informed the Principal/In-charge allied hospitals Dr Mohammad Mussadiq Khan about the status of Arshad,? he said adding the patient has already been shifted to isolation unit.
It is important that nearly five years back, Dr Farzana Altaf of Holy Family Hospital died after developing CCHF while treating a CCHF patient. ?Immediate (close) family members, attendants and medical staff involved in treatment of a CCHF patient might be at risk if proper preventive measures are not taken and for that purpose, we have notified all attendants of Arshad of his status,? said Dr Shoaib.
He said that doctors who had a contact with Arshad have started taking medicines as a preventive measure and medication to Arshad?s attendants has also been started.
Viral hemorrhagic fever family including CCHF and Ebola are Zoonotic diseases that animals cause to humans. Of all the disease-causing human viruses, these are the only ones for which the animal host and the virus life cycle could not be known around the globe so far. Scientists are unaware whether sheep, goats, and cattle serve as hosts or if other mammals, birds, reptiles, or even mosquitoes or ticks are involved in the life cycle of the virus family. The mortality rate of like hemorrhagic fevers ranges from 50 to 90 per cent. Persons with the infection of this virus family experience headache, high fever, muscle pain, vomiting, along with internal and external bleeding.
Dr Shoaib said that Arshad has a history of animal contact as some of his family members are butchers by profession and it strengthened his doubts. The CCHF is caused by Nairovirus of the Bunyaviridae family transmitted to humans by the bite of Hyalomma tick or by direct contact with blood of an infected animal or human. The CCHF was first described in Crimea in 1944 and identified in 1956 in Congo.
According to World Health Organization data, nearly 300 confirmed cases of CCHF have so far been reported in Pakistan from 1976 to 2003. The disease was first reported in Pakistan in 1976 but the number of cases shows a dramatic rise since 2000 with 50 to 60 patients being reported annually. However, only once ? a few years back ? the concerned government authorities had arranged IV Ribavarine, the most effective and only recommended medicine for prevention and treatment of patients exposed to CCHF, which is not available currently anywhere in Pakistan.
Crimean-Congo fever suspect admitted to BBH
Monday, November 17, 2008
By Muhammad Qasim
Rawalpindi
Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) received a patient, Arshad, aged 27, with severe bleeding disorder on Saturday night, however, senior doctors at the hospital have suspected him a case of deadly Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) on Sunday evening.
Arshad, who belongs to Hazro, Attock, reached the BBH with continued, uncontrolled, nasal and throat bleeding. On Saturday night, his platelets count was recorded as 2,000 that for a normal person ranges from 150,000 to 400,000. He was brought to the BBH from his native town after being suspected as a case of dengue hemorrhagic fever.
?His condition is becoming more and more critical with the passage of time while his bleeding disorder has got more intense convincing us to suspect him a patient of deadly CCHF,? said Head of Medical Unit at the BBH Professor Dr Shoaib Shafi, who is supervising Arshad?s treatment.
While talking to ?The News? Sunday evening, Dr Shoaib said, ?Arshad?s bleeding disorder is so much intense that he starts bleeding when touched by a doctor. I believe that his blood vessels have been blocked however we have started treatment protocol of CCHF on him.? He added that they are going to give Arshad high dosage of anti-viral drug, oral ribavarin.
He said the hospital is going to send his blood sample to National Institute of Health, Islamabad, for Congo serology. ?I have informed the Principal/In-charge allied hospitals Dr Mohammad Mussadiq Khan about the status of Arshad,? he said adding the patient has already been shifted to isolation unit.
It is important that nearly five years back, Dr Farzana Altaf of Holy Family Hospital died after developing CCHF while treating a CCHF patient. ?Immediate (close) family members, attendants and medical staff involved in treatment of a CCHF patient might be at risk if proper preventive measures are not taken and for that purpose, we have notified all attendants of Arshad of his status,? said Dr Shoaib.
He said that doctors who had a contact with Arshad have started taking medicines as a preventive measure and medication to Arshad?s attendants has also been started.
Viral hemorrhagic fever family including CCHF and Ebola are Zoonotic diseases that animals cause to humans. Of all the disease-causing human viruses, these are the only ones for which the animal host and the virus life cycle could not be known around the globe so far. Scientists are unaware whether sheep, goats, and cattle serve as hosts or if other mammals, birds, reptiles, or even mosquitoes or ticks are involved in the life cycle of the virus family. The mortality rate of like hemorrhagic fevers ranges from 50 to 90 per cent. Persons with the infection of this virus family experience headache, high fever, muscle pain, vomiting, along with internal and external bleeding.
Dr Shoaib said that Arshad has a history of animal contact as some of his family members are butchers by profession and it strengthened his doubts. The CCHF is caused by Nairovirus of the Bunyaviridae family transmitted to humans by the bite of Hyalomma tick or by direct contact with blood of an infected animal or human. The CCHF was first described in Crimea in 1944 and identified in 1956 in Congo.
According to World Health Organization data, nearly 300 confirmed cases of CCHF have so far been reported in Pakistan from 1976 to 2003. The disease was first reported in Pakistan in 1976 but the number of cases shows a dramatic rise since 2000 with 50 to 60 patients being reported annually. However, only once ? a few years back ? the concerned government authorities had arranged IV Ribavarine, the most effective and only recommended medicine for prevention and treatment of patients exposed to CCHF, which is not available currently anywhere in Pakistan.
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