Guwahati News Desk: Pakistan’s Karachi is currently experiencing several cases of “mysterious viral fever” with characteristics exactly like the fever of dengue.
According to sources, the mysterious viral fever is similar to dengue fever, as it has been reducing platelets and white blood cells of the patients.
However, the News International citing clinicians and pathologists on Thursday reported that when the viral fever was tested for dengue, the result came out to be negative.
The head of molecular pathology at the Dow University of Health Sciences, Prof. Saeed Khan, said, “For a couple of weeks, we are seeing cases of viral fever, in which platelets and white blood cells are dropping while other clinical symptoms are also similar to the dengue fever. But when NS1 antigen of these patients is performed, their tests come out to be negative.”
Meanwhile, other experts, including physicians and hemato-pathologists from different hospitals of the city, have also confirmed that a dengue virus-like pathogen is circulating in Karachi, causing a disease that is acting similar to dengue fever and requires the same treatment protocols but it is not dengue fever.
Confirming the cases, the molecular scientist, Dr. Muhammad Zohaib, associated with the Children’s Hospital in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, said, “Owing to this mysterious viral disease in addition to growing number of dengue fever cases, there is an extreme shortage of mega units of platelets as well as random units in the city. People are moving from pillar to post for mega units and random platelets units for their loved ones.”
Moreover, as many as 45 new dengue fever cases have been reported in Islamabad on Friday.
Furthermore, a total of 4,292 mosquito-borne viral disease cases have been reported in the federal capital in the current season.