A local hospital is on alert as a resident doctor died of the dreaded Crimean-Congo Hemorragic
Fever (Congo fever) here today.
Dr Smiral Patel of V S Hospital, who contracted the virus while treating a patient with unknown hemorrhagic viral fever, today died at a private hospital.
“We started screening all ward boys, nursing staff and resident doctors as soon as we received the positive report of the blood sample of Dr Patel from the National Institute of Virology, Pune,” said Dr Pankaj Patel, the superitendent of the Municipal Corporation-run V S Hospital.
On Wednesday, while Dr Smiral Patel was treating a patient, a splash of patient’s blood landed on his face. Next
day he complained of high-grade fever, severe headache, and metallic taste in his mouth. He was immediately rushed here.
But today he passed away,” said Dr Atul Patel, senior consultant at Sterling Hospital, where Dr Smiral was
undergoing treatement.
Authorities at the V S Hospital have started checking up everybody who was in the team with Dr Smiral, and given
preventive medicines to his colleagues, who had taken him to the private hospital and stayed with him.
Last year, a woman, Amina Momin of Sanand town near Ahmedabad, had died of Congo Fever.
———————-PTI