How severe is the Dengue issue that the country is facing?

Submitted by rajat on
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Blood Donation Discussion Board

This forum is an attempt to clearly understand the magnitude and the severity of the dengue problem that our country is facing. Please share links, write-ups, information etc to help strengthen the understanding of dengue issue in our country.

Submitted by rajat on Tue, 17-Aug-2010 - 01:43

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I was wondering why several people who request for platelets in large volumes cite the medical problem as 'viral fever' when the problem actually suggests of dengue. I found the answer recently. There are very few labs that are permitted by our law to confirm dengue cases. Needless to say, they are in the Government sector. If one is to confirm if someone has dengue the sample of blood should be sent to the Govt. labs for confirmation.

The fact is that once the platelet counts start dropping the doctors wait for no further diagnosis to start treating the patient for dengue. However since they don't have the authority to certify the fever as dengue they continue to call it viral fever.

The open questions are:

  • are all the hospitals actually sending the samples to the Govt labs?
  • are the figures which the Government quotes relating to dengue a true reflection of the extent of the problem?
  • are some deaths because of dengue being passed of as deaths due to other causes simply because the tests were not done to confirm dengue in Government labs?

The extent of dengue may be much more that what we have woken up to!

Submitted by rajat on Mon, 23-Aug-2010 - 00:32

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Our Union Health minister seemed to have found an target to put the blame on for the increase in Dengue cases in Delhi.(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Mosquitoes-at-CWG-sites-b…) Now I wonder what Mr. Azad has to say about increase in Dengue in Bangalore, Hyderabad and numerous other parts of the country. I hope and pray that people start focussing on real issues and real solutions rather than playing blame games with people's health and wellbeing.

Submitted by rajat on Thu, 26-Aug-2010 - 22:13

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NEW DELHI: Patients suffering from dengue are finding it difficult to get admission in city hospitals because of a sudden spurt in the number of cases and limited beds at these medical facilities.

Three hospitals in the city - All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Safdarjung Hospital and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital - are taking maximum burden of dengue patients, despite having limited beds at their disposal thus choking the resources. Premier medical institute AIIMS has reported the highest number of admissions related to dengue fever till now. The city has reported 550 dengue cases and one death this season. Read more: Hospitals choke as Delhi battles dengue - Delhi - City - The Times of India

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Hospitals-choke-as-Delhi-…

Submitted by rajat on Tue, 09-Nov-2010 - 14:33

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The shelf life for platelets is very low (<6 days). In spite of component separation coming into blood banking in a major way, most blood banks prefer collecting much of the units in double bags instead of triple bag since the demand for platelets is low. However in dengue season, there is very erratic demand for platelets. On many days the total stock of platelets draws a null in most parts of the city. Then blood banks go vigorously separating  platelets in next few days only to realize that suddenly the requirement has dipped and all the units prepared are poised to expire.

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