RAWALPINDI: Good news for dengue fever patients: Benazir Bhutto Hospital`s (BBH) centrifuge, which separates white cells directly from the donors blood, was fixed on Monday.

The machine went out of order before Eidul Azha.

The white cells are injected into the dengue patients to increase their platelets.

Holy Family Hospital (HFH) also had a centrifuge but it was lying inoperative.

Besides centrifuge, each of the allied hospitals has a cell separator machine, which also separates white cells but not directly from the donor.

With the influx of dengue patients to the Pindi hospitals, the provincial government provided funds only to Benazir Bhutto Hospital to repair the centrifuge machine, which would cater to DHQ and Holy Family hospitals` patients as well.

Benazir Bhutto Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Asif Qadir Mir confirmed to Dawn that the machine had now become operational.

He said that most patients admitted to the hospital did not require white cells as it was injected toonly those patients whose platelets count dropped drastically due to blood loss and were in critical condition.

He said the BBH machine would cater to HFH and DHQ hospitals.

Meanwhile, 26 more patients arrived in three government hospitals 16 in HFH, four in BBH and six in DHQ hospital.

So far more than 200 dengue patients have landed in the three hospitals and all are being treated. No death from the disease has been reported as yet, the official data revealed.

Commissioner Zahid Saeed told Dawn that the local administration had been asked to carry out fumigation at each house in the high-risk union councils.

`Due to massive anti-dengue campaign, the arrival of patients from cantonment areas, including Gawalmandi, has decreased and the same campaign will also be launched in other city areas,` he said.

Mr Saeed said that the cell separator machine at the Holy Family Hospital would also be repaired soon. `Platelets count of the patients who arrived in the hospitals was satisfactory but the government has asked blood banks to ensure they had platelets in stock for emergency use,` he said.