City hospitals grapple with patient rush

Dr Rajesh Gadia,consulting physician at KEM hospital has had his hands full treating dengue and chikungunya patients. “I see at least ten every day and most of the time we are managing chikungunya patients on an OPD basis. “There is simply no space at the 600-bed KEM hospital,” admits Dr V L Yemul,medical director at KEM hospital. There is not only a swine flu rush but also a heavy stream of patients suffering from diarrhoea,dysentery and other diseases.

At Jehangir hospital,Dr Ujwal Rao,deputy medical superintendent,says there are 28 patients in the ICU on ventilator support . From June,40 people suffering from dengue have been admitted of which a youth from Pune died.

Another patient suffering from dengue sent from Niramaya hospital in a critical state died upon admission,he said. Dengue is a viral disease that damages blood platelets. The virus is normally active in September and October but there has been an increase in dengue cases in June,July and August,says Gadia.

“Sometimes,patients may require immediate ventilator support and due to the full occupancy in the hospital and ICU it is difficult to accommodate patients,“ Rao says the hospital management coordinates with other hospitals for patient’s transfer.

A resident of Salisbury Park,35-year-old Bharat Shah, who had chikungunya,had to wait till midnight for admission to KEM hospital. He had to shift to a smaller nursing home for recuperation. Sassoon General Hospital has had its share of patients with a daily intake of over 100 in-patient admissions. According to officials,of the 16 malaria deaths from January to August,five are from rural areas and 11 from Pune. Two dengue deaths have been registered,health officials said.

At Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation,medical officer Dr Nitin Jawale is busy trying to manage the increasing number of patients since April. “We have had 146 malaria,86 dengue and 662 swine flu patients. Out of these 35 died of H1N1 and one each from dengue and malaria,” says Jawale.

According to the district malaria officer Dr R Khune,there have been 2,688 suspected chikungunya cases from rural areas of Pune and 33 of dengue and 95 due to malaria. In the Pune Municipal Corporation limits,insect control officer Dr Sadashiv Patole also admits there have been 100 cases of malaria and 68 due to dengue.