Dengue forces the government to add beds to treat patients

Santo Domingo.- The Ministry of Public Health authorities acknowledged on Wednesday that there is currently a “pressure” of dengue cases in at least two hospitals in Greater Santo Domingo.

He specified that currently, in the Metropolitan Health Network, are 315 patients admitted with symptoms related to dengue, of which 39 cases have been confirmed.

Given these statistics, Lama affirmed their “quite low” positivity. He added that all patients with suspected dengue are being followed up.

The head of the National Health Service also added that the 13 hospitals assigned to the SNS have set up 350 beds exclusively for dengue patients.

He specified that they have some 600 additional beds at the national level.

According to the director of the National Health Service (SNS), Mario Lama, most dengue cases are concentrated in the pediatric hospitals, Robert Reid Cabral and Hugo Mendoza. He also mentioned the Santo Socorro. However, the latter does not enable hospitalizations because it is being renovated, so they only assist in the emergency area.

Lama assured that in the last 72 hours, they have noticed a reduction in the number of dengue cases about admissions. They estimate that the hospitals of the Metropolitan Network received an average of 98 patients in the last three days, highlighting that they were around 115 last week.

“We are showing a reduction of between 15 and 16% in relation to admissions”, he pointed out.

He also pointed out that the children’s margin unit of the Marcelino Vélez Hospital will be opened tomorrow, Thursday, which will have an intensive care unit and will provide seven new beds to the system.

“Undoubtedly, this will take some pressure off while the measures to strengthen the fight against dengue begin to generate the expected responses,” he said.

He called on the population to go to the hospitals for assistance in case of any suspicion of dengue.