Thursday, July 17, 2008
Shahina Maqbool
Islamabad
Jannas Khan, a Frontier Constabulary (FC) soldier lodging in the FC barracks on Margalla Road in Islamabad, has tested positive for dengue fever, the National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed here on Wednesday.
Aged 28, Jannas is the second patient in 2008 to have tested positive for dengue fever, the first being a 35-year-old victim who succumbed to the disease earlier this month.
Jannas is under treatment at the Federal Government Services Hospital (FGHS) since Monday. He was admitted with high-grade fever, acute muscular pain, vomiting and leucopenia (low blood platelet count). The hospital authorities rushed his blood sample to NIH the same day on suspicion of dengue fever. “The patient is out of danger and is fast recovering. Supportive treatment was started early and the patient responded very well,” hospital sources revealed. Jannas is a resident of Peshawar.
Meanwhile, another two FC soldiers whose samples were sent to the NIH have tested negative. The NIH has collected blood samples of the immediate contacts of Jannas Khan to rule out the possibility of further spread of the disease.
Dengue patients do not require isolation. However, all standard protocols for treatment were adopted including placing the patient under a mosquito net so that the infection does not spread to others, hospital sources informed.
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