Pakistan

Dengue death toll reaches 274 with 5 more deaths in Lahore

174 new cases of dengue have been reported in Punjab.

Express October 24, 2011

LAHORE: Five more people reportedly succumbed to the dengue virus in Lahore on Monday.

According to unofficial figures, 274 people have so far died of dengue in Punjab, out of which 251 deaths have occurred in Lahore.

One person died due to dengue earlier this morning at Lahore's Mayo Hospital, while four others have died at the Jinnah Hospital.

According to official reports, 174 new cases of dengue have been reported in Punjab, of which 128 are in Lahore.

Official figures put the total death toll at 268 in Punjab, out of which 237 were reported in Lahore.

The total number of people infected with dengue has exceeded 118,600, out of which 15,893 are from Lahore.

Shahbaz's dengue campaign

In a bid to combat dengue virus in the future, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has made the cleanliness campaign and dengue helpline a permanent part of the health program

While chairing a meeting regarding the anti-dengue campaign in Lahore, the chief minister laid great stress on the effective training of doctors.

The health secretary briefed the chief minister about the current situation of the epidemic in the province and the steps taken to counter it.

Shahbaz Sharif further said five more cell separator machines have been installed in Gujranwala, Multan, Sahiwal, Rawalpindi and Lahore.

Shahbaz also directed the food secretary to make proper arrangements of cleanliness in the bid to control dengue fever.

He directed the health and education departments to take required steps to counter dengue.

Shahbaz Sharif said all effective measures are being taken to control the outburst of disease in the next season.

COMMENTS (1)

Dr. Anwar Rafih | 12 years ago | Reply Any death is a tragedy. More because they are preventable. That said 274 deaths are 0.2% of all reported cases. This is lower than anticipated from what we know of dengue from Karachi and in the South East Asia. And yet no one mentioned that our worries were out of proportion to the problem at hand and that the panic created by sensationalisation served the public poorly. Platelet transfusion for most part remains unnecessary since it is required only in "dangerously bleeding" cases. It is a dangerous option since Dengue causes a temporary immunity against platelets and these antibodies attack transfused platelets causing an overall worsening of the situation. It is therefore likely that the rampant transfusions likely contributed to at least some of the deaths. That being the case, approximately 1500 women died during the past 2 months in Punjab giving birth. Where was the media frenzy on it. One wonders that mosquitoes will be back next year as well. More than Dengue they will cause malaria. Happens that way each and every year. Are we going to be just as unprepared.

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