Prevention is better than cure

Dengue is a self limiting disease with an almost 100 percent recovery rate, says Pakistan Medical Society chairman.

LAHORE: Dengue fever is a self limiting disease and if managed properly, it has an almost 100 percent recovery rate said Dr Masood Akhtar Sheikh, chairman of the Pakistan Medical Society on Wedesday.

Dr Sheikh was addressing a meeting based on the measures for preventing dengue.

He said that there wasn’t a specific way of treating dengue fever and prevention was the only way to control the disease. He said that the patients suffering from dengue, however, should not use asprin or any other forms of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. “These medicines can be hazardous for dengue patients as they might result in platelets dysfunction,” he said.

Dr Sheikh explained that dengue has four types, DEN I, DEN II, DEN III, and DEN IV.

He said that a vaccine, which gave protection against each type, was direly needed. Otherwise, he said, prevention against one type could lead to the severity of the other.

He said that effective prevention measures were also required to be taken to control the breeding of the mosquito.

The PMS senior vice president Dr Israr Hussain said that the Society has been chalking out an effective dengue preventive campaign for general public, to create awareness about simple and cost effective methods of controlling the disease.

The dengue mosquito, Aedies Egypti, has the ability to reproduce in a very thin water film of fresh water. It has an average life span of only two to three weeks and a capacity to lay 250 to 300 eggs. The formation of thin film of water should be avoided. A simpler method to avoid the breeding of the dengue carrying mosquito is to keep changing the water in flower pots, money plants, water left in tires, bottles, bath tubs, and water tanks, every five days.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2010.