HYDERABAD: Over the last two months, ministers and the government hospitals in State have been assuring citizens that the dengue outbreak is not something to be worried about. But the ground reality in both government and private hospitals presents a very grim picture.
The OPD ward at Niloufer Hospital carries a desolate look as scores of parents wait for a doctor to attend to their children. The wards are crammed with way more patients than beds available. The stench of urine, rotting leftover food and bleach looms in the air.
According to Dr V Murali Krishna, hospital superintendent, the number of dengue cases has admittedly been high this year. However, he is quick to assure that the recovery rate has also been positive. “Due to early detection and treatment, patients are being discharged within a few days,” he says.
Meanwhile, an eight-year-old, Madiha, who has been suffering from fever for a week, was seen lying on the floor of a ward. “The doctors at a Sangareddy hospital diagnosed her with dengue and sent us here. We have been here for three days, but no bed is available,” her parents say.
Meanwhile, a four-year-old child, also diagnosed with dengue, was screamed at by the guards for urinating in the corridor. The father apologised to the guards, and said that with no washroom in the wards, the child was unable to wait until her parents took her to a different block.