As dengue cases continue to rise in the national capital, facilities in hospitals are crumbling.
Ward 13 in the medical department at Safdarjung Hospital was flooded on Wednesday, with patients sitting on the floor with three corridors and some shared beds. The increasing cases of dengue have increased the pressure on the medical system.
Okhla resident Pramod Kumar was waiting outside the ward as his 19-year-old nephew was admitted for dengue. Kumar said he was in the hospital for two days after he was transferred from a private hospital when his platelet count started dropping. Kumar said his nephew, who has been suffering from fever for almost a week, is among the patients living on the floor.
Inside the ward, patients were on the floor on either side of the corridors, some standing beside them. Their blankets and belongings were scattered here and there. Two doctors leaned on the floor to take care of them. Families and visitors moved around both inside and outside the ward to fetch food or examine patients.
as Malti Devi, a native of Muzaffarpur Keep it, there is no room in the ward to put anything or walk. her husband, a cancer He said that the patient was diagnosed with dengue on Tuesday. He had earlier sought treatment at the neighboring AIIMS, but was asked to be shifted to Safdarjung Hospital due to paucity of beds there. Malathi said that considering his condition, he has been given a bed, but he shares it with another patient. With the children not allowed into the ward, her 10-year-old, waiting outside for her mother, came to the shelter near AIIMS, where they spend the night, to bring back food.
The relatives were also waiting outside in a courtyard at the back of the block. A group of four women from Trilokpuri said they had come to visit their neighbour, a 20-year-old woman who had contracted dengue and had spent three days in the hospital.
Dr BK Tripathi, Professor of Medicine and former head of the department, said sharing of beds or lying on the floor in a hospital is not new, though dengue cases are putting more strain on the system.
The hospital does not yet have a separate ward for dengue and other viral fevers, and ward 13 has patients with other diseases as well. “We have opened a separate ward for dengue earlier, when around 40 to 60 patients used to come daily. If the cases keep increasing in the next week or two, we will have to open a separate ward for dengue.
The hospital also sees dengue cases from adjoining districts of Haryana, Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh. The capacity of each of the three wards of the medical department is only for 52 to 54 patients. One-third of dengue patients reporting in emergency are likely to be admitted and shifted to regular wards,” he said.
Kamlesh Singh, 35, from Indirapuram, was admitted to GTB Hospital three days ago, but could not find his bed. She shares a bed with a girl who has a skin infection.
Kamlesh was moaning in pain on their shared bed and was unable to say much. Her husband, Prem, who works as a driver, said he had a fever a week ago, and they took him to two local doctors. When the situation did not improve, he was brought to GTB Hospital. Since her platelet count is low, doctors confirmed that she has dengue, but her test report is pending.
Right next to her, two other women shared a bed. While one was diagnosed with typhoid, the other woman, in her 20s, who had tested positive for dengue, cried about her stomach ache.
Since there is no separate dengue ward, patients were being admitted to the medicine ward and most had to share the bed. On Wednesday morning, the hands of nurses, ward boys and doctors were involved. A doctor in the medicine ward said,
“I do not even know whether dengue has been declared a pandemic or not. All my sunrises and sunsets have been in the hospital for the past few days.”
Dr Ankit Luthra, vice-president, Resident Doctors Association (RDA), University College of Medical Sciences and GTB Hospital, said, “We have been seeing 100-200 patients a day for the past two weeks. Since there are not that many beds, we are accommodating two patients in one bed. This is because we have to admit patients whose platelet count is less than 50,000 and cannot survive without treatment.
Roshan Lal and his family had come from Aligarh 10 days ago to get his 48-year-old wife admitted to GTB Hospital. They make bed sheets and rest in the courtyard during the day, and sleep outside the hospital at night.
Roshan Lal said, ‘She had fever and she was very weak. When we got tested, it was found that he had dengue. The doctors asked us to bring him here for treatment.”
The patient’s brother Bablu said, “Her son is to be married on November 6… Everyone is really worried. She is sharing the bed with another patient.” The family was considering shifting her to Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital.
The situation was equally critical at RML Hospital. A junior doctor said the scene brought back pictures of the pandemic. “It may not be that serious but the numbers are quite high,” he said. At least 100 dengue patients are coming every day for the last one week. Not everyone can be admitted to the ward, so many are treated in the emergency area. The emergency area of the medical department was packed with patients and families on Wednesday. Tired of stretchers and people, even nurses struggled to provide treatment without being pushed. Most of the dengue patients were on IV fluids. A dengue patient scrambled to go to the nurses and told them he needed more fluids.
Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital also did not have a separate ward for dengue. Doctors and nurses in the medical department told that there is at least one positive patient and 8-10 suspected patients in every ward.
LNJP medical director Dr Suresh Kumar said that 100 beds have been set aside for fever like dengue and malaria in the emergency department and medicine section at LNJP hospital. “We have about 15 patients admitted right now who are suspected to have dengue. Most of these patients are referred to us from NCR-Ghaziabad, Meerut, Noida.
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