Rawalpindi:The number of cases with gastroenteritis, commonly known as gastro is continuously on the rise in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi as in the last one-and-a-half months, well over 3000 patients with gastro have been reported at the three teaching hospitals in town including Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Holy Family Hospital and Rawalpindi Teaching Hospital.
Data collected by ‘The News’ on Saturday has revealed that accident and emergency departments of the three teaching hospitals received as many as 1865 patients with complications of gastroenteritis in the month of May this year and the number of patients is registering a continuous rise in June so far.
Gastroenteritis that is considered as one of the top 10 causes of death in Pakistan and number one cause of presentation to hospitals in the country in summer is an infection of stomach and intestine. It is a group of diseases caused by various viruses, bacteria, their toxins and parasites. The most common symptoms are diarrhoea and vomiting. Deaths from the condition are common in the developing world like Pakistan especially in children under five years of age.
In general, gastroenteritis is water and food borne infections whose main symptoms include vomiting, fever, severe diarrhea with dehydration and lowering of blood pressure. As many as 689 patients suffering from acute gastroenteritis have been reported at BBH in May only while 665 at HFH and 509 at RTH, said Principal Rawalpindi Medical College and In-charge Allied Hospitals Professor Dr. Jahangir Sarwar Khan while talking to ‘The News’.
He, like other health experts, said the incidence of gastroenteritis is continuously on the rise in this region of the country and fear that the situation may get worse in the coming weeks if proper preventive measures are not taken well in time by both the individuals and other stakeholders.
Data collected by ‘The News’ has revealed that nearly 40 per cent of adult patients reaching hospitals with gastroenteritis are severely dehydrated and it is so because the majority of the patients are unaware of the steps that should be taken immediately after the incidence of gastro. Similarly, nearly 50 per cent of child patients with gastro between the age of one and five years reach hospitals in emergency with severe dehydration.
Most of the adult patients reaching hospitals with gastro are those who have had food or some sort of ‘sharbat’ from some vendor, local hotels, restaurants or food outlets serving in unhygienic conditions. Experts say that the lack of awareness among the public on how to avoid gastro like infections and poor sanitation are the main causes behind the spread of gastro in the region.
Health experts say that there is no epidemic of gastro as yet but it can be in the next few weeks and it is time to educate the public on various aspects of gastroenteritis to avoid losses. Experts say that a mother must start giving ORS to a child from the start of vomiting and diarrhoea. Children who are not given ORS immediately after contracting gastro suffer from dehydration.
