"My son´s condition was not too serious," said Keshab GC, a resident of Butwal-12, told Republica. [break]
"However, doctors at Rupandehi District Hospital referred my son to Kathmandu, without even bothering to treat him." A retired soldier of Indian Army, Keshab got his son Bishal admitted at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital (STIDH) in Kathmandu. "I could take my son to Kathmandu," he said, adding, "However, there are many who cannot afford the expenses."
According to Dr Basudev Pandey, the government´s national focal person for dengue, district hospitals have been referring patients to the capital out of fear of another death. "There is a tendency of passing the buck to someone else," Dr Pandey said. "They fear that they would court unnecessary trouble if someone dies despite their effort to save the patients."
Besides, Dr Pandey pointed out, well-off people rush to hospitals in the capital as most of the district health institutions lack facilities for curing dengue patients. "Everyone is scared as dengue is a relatively new disease," Dr Pandey told Republica.
This has overburdened hospitals in Kathmandu. In Teku´s tropical hospital alone, some 40 dengue patients were receiving treatment on Thursday. "Especially after dengue deaths were reported, we have been receiving around 10 new patients every day," Dr Pandey said.
Platelet separation facilities unavailable
Govinda Yadav, a resident of Pipariya village-9 in Sarlahi, was initially admitted at district hospital in Malangawa. However, doctors immediately referred him to Kathmandu´s Sukraraj tropical hospital since his blood contained only 8,000 platelets per cubic mm.
The blood of a person under normal physical condition contains 150,000-300,000 platelets per cubic mm that clot blood in human body. When blood contains less than 20,000 platelets per cubic mm, a person is under the risk of unstoppable bleeding.
However, equipment for separating platelets from blood is not available in dengue-affected districts except Chitwan. Patients who suffer hemorrhagic fever caused by dengue disease have to come to Kathmandu for receiving platelets.
Meanwhile, District Public Health Office (DPHO) of Rupandehi has asked all doctors to not refer patients who suffer only dengue fever to hospitals in the capital. "Not all dengue patients suffer hemorrhagic fever. They lose platelets only in this condition," Maheshwor Shrestha, DPHO chief of Rupandehi, said.
"Doctors posted in district hospitals can easily treat such patients. We have instructed them to refer only those patients who suffer hemorrhagic fever."
Dengue epidemic, cases of which were traced only in 2006, has affected eight districts.
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