With the number of dengue cases beginning to soar due to the dry spell, private hospitals in the Klang Valley have been inundated with people seeking treatment, putting a strain on medical facilities.
Though the Health Ministry was not able to provide real-time statistics on dengue-related hospital admissions, checks by Malay Mail with several private hospitals show that their hands are full.
Columbia Asia Bukit Rimau chief medical officer Dr Ng Lee Li said the increasing number of dengue patients was serious as they received about five confirmed cases each day.
“The number continues to increase and although we are able to cope with the demand, we have to turn away patients if our hospital beds are full,” she said, explaining that the hospital had 41 inpatient beds.
“Just today alone (Monday) we have admitted 10 cases of dengue.”
Dr Ng said the hospital would do a routine check for blood count and dengue fever study if a patient arrived with a history of fever for more than three consecutive days.
“For those who are stable, we would advise them to be admitted to another hospital with a referral from our doctors if our beds are full,” she said.
For patients not requiring admission, Dr Ng said the hospital would advise them to return for full blood count monitoring at the emergency department.
An accident and emergency unit doctor in a private hospital here said dengue cases at the hospital had doubled from May to June.
He said if the hospital was unable to accommodate dengue patients, they would be transferred to another hospital of their choice.
“We would need to talk to the patients or their families before moving them out to another hospital,” he said.
However, he did not provide the number of dengue patients currently admitted in the hospital as the hospital did not have a fixed number of beds for dengue patients.
Another doctor in Klang said the hospital received an average of five to six patients a day, mainly from Klang.
Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia (APHM) president Datuk Dr Jacob Thomas said he had been informed of the rise of admissions in private hospitals due to dengue.
However, Dr Jacob said private hospitals had been able to cope with the demand and no patients have been turned away so far.
“If there is no bed available at one particular hospital, the patient will be transferred to the nearest private or government hospital,” he said.
Dr Jacob said every case recorded in private hospitals would be immediately reported to the Health Ministry for further action, such as identifying the location and fogging.
“This matter should not be handled solely by the health authorities and the private hospitals are working in partnership with them.”
He said most hospitals did not waste time on treating the patient and would carry out immediate investigations when dengue was suspected.
“The type of dengue we have now is quite aggressive, so if it warrants an admission, then hospitals would be advised to do so,” he said.
There are 30 hospitals in Selangor registered under APHM with a total of 2,873 beds, and 27 hospitals in Kuala Lumpur with a total of 2,951 beds.
Source: The Malay Mail Online