Sharpe
Senior Moderator
The situation in northern India and Nepal deserves attention. Over the last month, there has been a rising number of reports from the entire region of outbreaks of disease in which people are developing high fever, vomiting, diarrhea, respiratory distress, and at times, major mucosal bleeding, convulsions, encephalitis, and death. In several of the cases, doctors have been becoming sick, and in others, like Lucknow, the hospitals have become filled to capacity. The outbreaks have variously been blamed on Japanese Encephalitis and Dengue, but the symptoms and pattern of spread do not fit either--in fact the diagnoses almost sound like they are more based on the fact that it's September than what's wrong with the patients. Below are two reports from Lucknow on the situation at King George's Hospital today. Locations to watch closely in the coming days based on the number of reports in the past month include:
Lucknow, India
Surat, India
Kanpur, India
Bajura, Nepal
Nepalgung, Nepal
Nuwakot, Nepal
Dengue alert: Children falling prey in Old City
Maulshree Seth
Lucknow, September 1: About three days back, a 24-year-old resident of Vikas Nagar suffering from dengue was admitted to the King George’s Medical University (KGMU). Officials at the hospital’s paediatric department said they have been receiving at least two-three dengue cases every week at their OPD since July-end. Most of the cases are from Vikas Nagar, Thakurganj and other parts of the Old City.
Fearing a possible outbreak, the doctors are keeping a close watch. The chief medical officer, Dr K K Singh, said he has asked all the hospitals to send a daily report on the dengue cases from today. ‘’As per our information, only one case of dengue has been reported so far. If any hospital informs us about such cases in future, we are ready to take immediate action,’’ said Singh.
‘’This is the usual timing for outbreak of dengue. We are keeping a regular track of the cases coming in our OPD, as well as those admitted in the hospital. After discussion with experts, we found that the strain of virus found in and around Lucknow is more severe,’’ said Dr Rashmi Kumar, professor, paediatric department, KGMU.
‘’For instance, dengue cases in Delhi show routine symptoms like fever. The patients there have not been known to suffer convulsions or sudden contraction of muscles, like we have noticed here. Moreover, some dengue patients here have also shown symptoms of encephalitis, but we will be able to make definite conclusions only after the results of the PCR (polumerase chain reaction) tests come in.”
However, the reports of samples which were sent for PCR tests to the Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute (SGPGI) have been pending for about a month now.
No bed at KGMU medicine dept yet again
Express News Service
Lucknow, September 1: On the one hand, the department of Medicines, King George’s Medical University, has been asked by the district health authorities to keep a record of the dengue patients, on the other hand, the department has again stopped admitting new patients. It is the second time in two weeks that the department has written to the incharge of the Trauma Centre of KGMU ‘‘not to send any new patients to them following the on-going contruction work at the department’’.
It is to be noted that the construction work has been going on for the past two months, following which, the entry of patients had been stopped from time to time. Today, attendants of patients, from not only Lucknow but adjoining districts of Hardoi and Sitapur also, could be seen pleading with the doctors to admit them, but were being asked to come on Monday, following a crisis at the Medicine department.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Talking to Express Newsline, Santram from Hardoi informed, ‘‘My father has been suffering from continuous fever for the past one week. I took him to the district hospital, but they asked me to go to the KGMU. However, here I’m being told to come later. We have no place to put up in the city, thus I’m requesting them (doctors) to admit my father.’’ And Hazari Prasad, the father of Santram, was not the lone case to the point. [/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The sources at Trauma Centre informed that around 60 per cent of the patients who come to Trauma belong to Medicine, thus the crisis at the department was certainly causing inconvenience to the patients and their attendants, especially those coming from other districts. However, the officials of the department claimed they would soon solve the crisis and begin admitting new patients. [/FONT]
Lucknow, India
Surat, India
Kanpur, India
Bajura, Nepal
Nepalgung, Nepal
Nuwakot, Nepal
Dengue alert: Children falling prey in Old City
Maulshree Seth
Lucknow, September 1: About three days back, a 24-year-old resident of Vikas Nagar suffering from dengue was admitted to the King George’s Medical University (KGMU). Officials at the hospital’s paediatric department said they have been receiving at least two-three dengue cases every week at their OPD since July-end. Most of the cases are from Vikas Nagar, Thakurganj and other parts of the Old City.
Fearing a possible outbreak, the doctors are keeping a close watch. The chief medical officer, Dr K K Singh, said he has asked all the hospitals to send a daily report on the dengue cases from today. ‘’As per our information, only one case of dengue has been reported so far. If any hospital informs us about such cases in future, we are ready to take immediate action,’’ said Singh.
‘’This is the usual timing for outbreak of dengue. We are keeping a regular track of the cases coming in our OPD, as well as those admitted in the hospital. After discussion with experts, we found that the strain of virus found in and around Lucknow is more severe,’’ said Dr Rashmi Kumar, professor, paediatric department, KGMU.
‘’For instance, dengue cases in Delhi show routine symptoms like fever. The patients there have not been known to suffer convulsions or sudden contraction of muscles, like we have noticed here. Moreover, some dengue patients here have also shown symptoms of encephalitis, but we will be able to make definite conclusions only after the results of the PCR (polumerase chain reaction) tests come in.”
However, the reports of samples which were sent for PCR tests to the Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute (SGPGI) have been pending for about a month now.
No bed at KGMU medicine dept yet again
Express News Service
Lucknow, September 1: On the one hand, the department of Medicines, King George’s Medical University, has been asked by the district health authorities to keep a record of the dengue patients, on the other hand, the department has again stopped admitting new patients. It is the second time in two weeks that the department has written to the incharge of the Trauma Centre of KGMU ‘‘not to send any new patients to them following the on-going contruction work at the department’’.
It is to be noted that the construction work has been going on for the past two months, following which, the entry of patients had been stopped from time to time. Today, attendants of patients, from not only Lucknow but adjoining districts of Hardoi and Sitapur also, could be seen pleading with the doctors to admit them, but were being asked to come on Monday, following a crisis at the Medicine department.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Talking to Express Newsline, Santram from Hardoi informed, ‘‘My father has been suffering from continuous fever for the past one week. I took him to the district hospital, but they asked me to go to the KGMU. However, here I’m being told to come later. We have no place to put up in the city, thus I’m requesting them (doctors) to admit my father.’’ And Hazari Prasad, the father of Santram, was not the lone case to the point. [/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The sources at Trauma Centre informed that around 60 per cent of the patients who come to Trauma belong to Medicine, thus the crisis at the department was certainly causing inconvenience to the patients and their attendants, especially those coming from other districts. However, the officials of the department claimed they would soon solve the crisis and begin admitting new patients. [/FONT]
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I'm with ya! Just came across an editorial piece in a pedriatric publication from 2003 about a "mystery disease". Same old, same old...here are some snippets: