Too many dengue patients, too few rooms at hospitals

Dengue patients cannot find a private room for the love of god or money in the city's leading hospitals, with some turning those suffering from the vector-borne disease away and others accommodating more than one patient in a single room. Rhythma Kaul reports.

Dengue patients cannot find a private room for the love of god or money in the city's leading hospitals, with some turning those suffering from the vector-borne disease away and others accommodating more than one patient in a single room.

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After Holy Family Hospital put up signs on Sunday night saying all its beds were full, other Delhi hospitals have reported complete occupancy.

Moolchand Medcity was forced to stop admitting patients today because of full occupancy. The hospital already has 25 suspected cases of dengue admitted and has double that number of patients visiting its out-patient department (OPD) every day.

"We are full and can't accommodate any more patients. We are referring people to other hospitals in the vicinity after providing them the primary treatment," said Madhu Handa, medical administrator, Moolchand Medcity.

Dengue cases have doubled over the last two weeks, say doctors at most hospitals.

"I see about 15 cases daily now, up from about three a fortnight ago. One-third are sick enough to need hospitalisation," said Dr Suranjit Chatterjee, senior consultant, internal medicine at Indraprastha Apollo hospital. Apollo is treating 10 patients for dengue.

The situation is similar at Fortis Hospital at Vasant Kunj. "There are days when we have 110 per cent occupancy. We get 10 to 12 suspected cases every day and fifty per cent of these turn positive. People taking painkillers such as brufin and nimuselide are worst sufferers, as these drugs decrease the platelet count, increasing the need for hospitalisation," said Dr Vivek Nangia, head of department of pulmonary and infectious disease at Fortis hospital. His unit alone has six dengue cases admitted at the moment; the hospital in all has 20 dengue patients admitted.