10% AIIMS docs, nurses have dengue

At least 10% of doctors and nursing staff at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) are down with dengue. Even the three units at the medicine wards have at least 15 AIIMS employees admitted with dengue-related bleeding.

At least 10% of doctors and nursing staff at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) are down with dengue. Even the three units at the medicine wards have at least 15 AIIMS employees admitted with dengue-related bleeding.

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“The admitted patients are those with internal bleeding and whose platelet count have slumped to less than 30,000. They are critical,” said a doctor, managing one of the medicine department unit. In the past month, over 30 employees have been admitted due to dengue.

“At least twice this number — especially, AIIMS employees living in the campus — come to the outpatient department daily with dengue-like symptoms,” said the doctor.

Doctors say the numbers have gone up drastically in the past two weeks. “This is mostly because of poor sanitation in the campus. Even the fumigation has been done shoddily,” said Dr Deepak Damodaran, vice-president of the resident doctors’ association at AIIMS.

On April 20, 2012, the association had sent a mail to the director’s office, apprising him about the poor sanitation in the hospital premises. Despite the letter, the doctors claim, nothing was done. The doctors say the hospital itself is a breeding ground of dengue.

“A lot of mosquito breeding has been found at AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital zone. We have sent notices to the respective caretakers,” said Dr PK Sharma, medical officer, health, New Delhi Municipal Council.