A Health Department spokesman said the number of dengue patients in the province this year had risen to 305. PHOTO: FILE
LAHORE:
Six new cases of dengue fever emerged on Saturday.
A Health Department spokesman said the number of dengue patients in the province this year had risen to 305.
He said the cooler temperatures created favourable conditions for dengue mosquito breeding. He said the there were no signs of a dengue fever epidemic.
The Health Department has asked medical superintendents of public hospitals and executive district officers to remain alert.
They have been instructed to monitor dengue surveillance activities in their respective areas.
They have also been asked to report confirmed dengue cases in their areas to the Health Department.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Hassan Iqbal said on Saturday the dengue fever situation in the province was under control.
He was talking to a meeting of the cabinet committee reviewing the anti-dengue fever campaign. The meeting was chaired by MPA Khawaja Salman Rafique.
Secretaries and additional secretaries of various departments, Lahore Commissioner Imdadullah Bosal, King Edward Medical University Vice Chancellor Faisal Masood, Chief Minister’s Dengue Research Cell in charge Waseem Akram and Special Branch DIG Shahid Khan also attended the meeting.
The meeting was told that 11 patients were being treated for dengue fever in the province.
Iqbal said the government had stepped up its efforts to eliminate dengue mosquito breeding sites. He said the next few weeks were crucial for dengue mosquito breeding.
He said 1,826 cases of dengue fever had been reported in Sindh and 7,455 in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (K-P). He said 12 people in Sindh and 25 in KP had died of dengue fever.
Lahore Commissioner Imdadullah Bosal informed the meeting about dengue mosquito surveillance and larvaeciding activities in Lahore, Sheikhupura, Kasur and Nankana Sahib.
He said that dengue mosquito larvae had been detected in Data Ganj Bakhsh, Ravi and Shalimar Towns.
Akram said moderate temperatures and humidity were conducive for dengue mosquito breeding.
He said the breeding would be suppressed once the weather changed.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 6th, 2013.
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