23-yr-old dengue victim loses vision in Gurgaon
Himabindu Reddy, Hindustan Times
Gurgaon/New Delhi, October 27, 2012
A 23-year-old woman suffering from dengue hemorrhagic fever - a critical condition of the mosquito-borne disease - has lost her eyesight in Gurgaon. She was first admitted to a local hospital with high fever and a low platelet count of about 7,000. After she complained of blurred
vision, she was taken to Park Hospital in Southcity Phase 2 on October 20. She was shifted to New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Friday as her condition had not improved.
"She developed high fever on October 15 and on October 18 she was admitted to the hospital, where she was tested positive for dengue," said her brother Udayraj Singh.
Doctors at Park said her eyes became red and were bulging out.
"We spotted bleeding behind and inside the white portion of her eyes. She can perceive very less light and has almost lost her entire vision," said Dr VS Bhalla, medical superintendent of Park hospital.
Although her platelet count is on the rise and her fever is subsiding, ophthalmologists at the hospital say her chances of getting back her eyesight are very slim.
The condition is called panophthalmitis, inflammation in the eye caused by the virus. The iris appears muddy and gray and there may be a probable need to remove the eye if the surrounding tissues are infected...
