KUALA LUMPUR: With the dengue situation in the country, the young and the elderly need to be wary and seek immediate treatment if they have dengue symptoms or suspect that they may have the disease, said consultant physician Dr Rajbans Singh.
Since Jan 1, 22 people have died of dengue and as of last Tuesday, the number of dengue cases nationwide was 11,870. The number of dengue cases has skyrocketed by 300 per cent compared with the same period last year.
Fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, and a skin rash similar to measles are some common symptoms of dengue fever.
In critical cases, the disease develops into dengue haemorrhagic fever, resulting in bleeding, low levels of blood platelets and blood plasma leakage, or into dengue shock syndrome, where extremely low blood pressure occurs.
"How each individual responds to dengue is different. Doctors never know which case is going to turn bad or become severe, so it is vital to get treated early," said Dr Rajbans.
Since last month, Dr Rajbans has admitted eight to 10 severe dengue cases to the critical care unit (CCU) or the intensive care unit (ICU) of Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur. These were the suspected dengue shock or dengue haemorrhagic cases.
An example of a dengue shock case that was placed in ICU was a 73-year-old diabetic and hypertensive woman, who had earlier gone to another hospital and been misdiagnosed with gastroenteritis and viral fever.
"She didn't have the typical high fever associated with dengue but her blood pressure was low and her platelet count was only 20,000, when she came to see us. Later the same day, it dropped to 10,000. Her gums were also bleeding slightly so we had to keep her in ICU for three to four days to prevent her condition from getting worse."
Another dengue case he treated was a 33-year-old man who complained of fever and severe headache.
"Initially, he thought his migraine was getting worse. On the third day of his fever, his platelet count was 98,000 in the morning, but when we repeated the platelet test in the afternoon, it was 22,000. By the time we took him to ICU, it had fallen to 13,000 and his gums had started bleeding. He had a very inflamed liver and had to receive a transfusion of 16 units of platelets. He had to remain hospitalised for 12 days, compared with the seven to eight days for the usual dengue cases. He is very lucky to have survived."
Sales executive Shima Abdullah, 42, contracted dengue recently and experienced fatigue, loss of appetite, and prolonged fever.
"I had put it down to typical flu until a colleague, suspecting that it was dengue, urged me to visit the company doctor. The doctor referred me to hospital.
"They took my blood to check the platelet level. It was all right, so, they sent me home. But I had to visit the hospital every day to monitor my platelets. At that time, I was staying at USJ6, so, it was an effort to go to hospital every day. I missed one of the appointments and my nose started bleeding.
"The next day, I went back to hospital and the doctor found that my platelet level was very low and both of my legs had red spots surrounded by a circle of white dots, which he called 'an island of red in a sea of white'.
"He told the interns accompanying him that it was a rare phenomenon in Malaysia and that he had only seen it in India. I was admitted and became a case study for the interns. I didn't realise that I had been placed in a critical care ward. The first night I spent there, the woman in the bed next to me died. It was a scary experience because I was surrounded by people who were seriously ill and you can't help but wonder, 'Am I next?'
"There was no medication for what I had. Instead I had to drink lots of water and had my blood pressure and platelets checked twice a day. I had to stay in hospital for a week before I was discharged."
In Sungai Siput, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya said the government had no plans to expand the use of genetically modified mosquitoes to fight dengue.
He said the company contracted to carry out the pilot project in Bentong, Pahang had asked RM100 million from the government to expand the project to three other states.
"The effect of the pilot project, however, is still not known," he said here yesterday, adding that the company did not get back to the government on the effectiveness of the pilot project.
Dr Hilmi was speaking after launching a medical outreach programme jointly organised by Briged Sukarelawan Media Prima-NSTP and the National Heart Institute. It is supported by Yayasan 1MDB.
On complaints that some hospitals were putting dengue patients at the corridors, Dr Hilmi said they had no choice.
"Some hospitals are recording a bed occupancy rate of 110 per cent due to dengue."
Meanwhile, the ministry's deputy director-general of health (medical) Datuk Dr Jeyaindran Sinnadurai said about 120 additional beds would be placed in hospitals in the Klang Valley to cater to the increasing number of dengue patients.
"We will place an additional 30 beds per hospital in the Klang Valley, but this will take about one to two weeks to get done."
Dr Jeyaindran told the New Sunday Times that the ministry would propose other contingency plans before resorting to field hospitals.
"Among our proposals are to optimise beds and wards in hospitals receiving a high number of dengue cases and reschedule surgeries that do not require immediate attention to give more room for dengue patients."
It was reported yesterday that the Health Ministry was discussing with the armed forces on the possibility of setting up field hospitals if the dengue situation worsened and forced hospitals to turn away patients because of a lack of beds. Additional reporting by Hana Naz Harun
http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/seek-treatment-if-you-detect-symptoms-1.485051
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