Even as the dengue crisis in Delhi is getting out of control, the state government’s lack of preparedness for such an endemic outbreak has been exposed. Shortage of beds was the first major issue faced, with up to two patients sharing a bed and the not so serious cases even been asked to lie on the hospital floor. With surgical wards being also used to room patients it is evident that the hospitals in Delhi are underequipped. In addition to this, there is also an acute shortage of platelets in most blood banks.

Bureaucratic Promises?
Following the death of a 7 year old child from dengue, who was denied treatment at 3 different hospitals before dying last week Delhi’s Health Minister Satyendra Jain has been paying surprise visits to various hospitals across the Delhi region to take stock of the situation. He seemed satisfied with the condition at the hospitals and said, “The condition of hospitals, as I have examined, is not that bad. Whosoever is coming is being admitted. Some necessary instructions have been given to authorities to make appropriate arrangements to tackle dengue cases. Our preparedness is much better than last year”. Delhi’s CM Arvind Kejriwal has taken to Twitter to pacify the Twitterati and assure that the government is taking necessary

The Reality
FirstPost checked with the following hospitals- Swami Dayananad Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur,Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan, Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Ram Manohar Lohia. All these hospitals have reported hundreds of patients flowing in day on day, creating chaos. Doctors are dealing with these scenarios

At Swami Dayanand Hospital, 50 patients have been found positive for dengue. Shortage of beds is being handled by delaying routine surgeries and using surgical wards to treat dengue patients. At Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, 55-60 suspected cases of dengue, shortage of doctors, nursing staffa and even essential medicines. There is also a reported shortage of platelets which is required for dengue treatment. Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan hospital, has roughly 70 to 80 patients show up with mosquito borne disease symptoms and so far 25 have tested positve for dengue. They have been receiving patients because other care centres are ill equipped to handle dengue diagnosis and treatment.Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Ram Manohar Lohia have reported similar statistics with a shortage of doctors and overworked doctors being the key highlights!

When asked about this situation the Health Minister didn’t deny the situation but said that orders had been given to procure 1000 more beds and place them wherever space can be found. Even if it means putting them in lobbies and hallways.

Latest Developments

According to NDTV reports the latest developments from Delhi on the dengue outbreak stands as such-

1. Over 1,800 dengue cases have been reported in Delhi so far with just 600 in the last one week alone.
2. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s government, on Monday, ordered 1,000 extra beds in hospitals to treat dengue patients. Doctors at state-run hospitals have been told to cancel their leave immediately.
3. The government was spurred into action following the death of a seven-year-old boy who died from the fever allegedly after being refused treatment at a number of Delhi hospitals. The boy’s parents later committed suicide, unable to bear the grief of their son’s death.
4. Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain told NDTV that an inquiry has been initiated against five hospitals, adding that their licenses could be cancelled if found guilty. “Five hospitals have been given notice… We will examine the CCTV footage and check all records,” Mr Jain said.
5. As well as the extra beds, Mr Jain has ordered “fever clinics” be set up at overwhelmed hospitals to help with the numbers. “I have ordered all government hospitals that they should not refuse to admit dengue patients even if they have to treat two patients on a single bed,” he said.
6. “This is the worst outbreak in the last five years and it is going to further increase as the weather remains humid,” YK Mann, director of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, told news agency AFP.
7.Dengue fever, also known as “breakbone disease” which has no known vaccination or cure, strikes fear into the citizens of Delhi when it arrives with the monsoon rains.
8. Hospitals across the capital are stretched to breaking, with patients sharing beds and scores jostling at government health facilities for free tests for the fever
9. The government’s moves come after a grief-stricken couple jumped from a four-storey building in Delhi last week, two days after their son’s death.
10. Transmitted to humans by the female Aedes Aegypti mosquito, dengue causes high fever, headaches, itching and joint pains that last about a week.

Overworked Doctors
In light of the dengue outbreak and patient overflow, the already overworked doctors are facing a tough uphill task. Their holiday for Vinayaka Chaturti has been officially cancelled to deal with the steadily rising flow of patients .Even as the weather in Delhi stays humid, the patient flow may very well increase. The state government is taking precautions to manage the source of the disease such as – stagnant water, clearing of drains and many other steps. However, the doctors handling these patients must really be commended for the effort they are putting in. The point remains, even if its a holiday doctors are the first line of defense when it comes to handling emergencies such as these. This mid-week holiday could very well mean back to back 12-14 hour shifts for doctors even as they tend to dengue patients, putting themselves and their families second. With their own lives at risk they will handle infectious patients and quite possibly even impatient and violent relatives of patients jostling to have their loved ones treated.

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Edited from original post: First Post, NDTV
Image Credits: NDTV

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