Seasonal influenza : Admin calks out strategy to combat viral diseases

Anti-polio campaign in district to start on February 15

ISLAMABAD: Rawalpindi district administration has chalked out a programme to combat four viral diseases — dengue, seasonal influenza, polio and Congo virus.

This was decided at a meeting chaired by acting Rawalpindi Commissioner Sajid Zafar Dall with Rawalpindi parliamentarians and health department officials on Saturday.

It was decided at the meeting that an anti-dengue campaign would be launched with the aim of completely eliminating the dengue larva from the area.

The participants of the conference also ordered an anti-polio drive from February 15 to 18, targeting 813,000 children in the district with a special focus on refusal cases.

The committee was assured by health officials that the four seasonal influenza patients in the Holy

Family Hospital were being given proper treatment and care.

They were also informed that only one patient came in with a suspect case of Congo virus who had been in isolation since then, as health experts run lab tests on him to confirm the diagnosis.

Meanwhile, capital hospitals such as the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) and the Polyclinic Hospital, have reportedly run out of vaccines for seasonal influenza.

Patients’ families are being asked to acquire the said vaccine from the Rawalpindi Health Department.

Rawalpindi District Health Officer Dr Rafiq Ahmed told the Daily Express that a control room for seasonal influenza, at the Executive District Office (Health) headquarters, was monitoring all the patients from across the district, while ensuring availability of medicines.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1^st,  2016.