Dengue fever: Once bitten, twice shy

LAHORE: Handouts listing information about dengue and precautionary measures will be distributed door-to-door by mobile vaccination teams during the anti-polio campaign, which starts from March 7.

The decision was taken in a meeting of the Health Department on Thursday. The department says that it has already evolved a strategy to prevent the outbreak of dengue fever in the province.

Teams have started larviciding (using pesticides to control specific species of insects such as mosquito larvae) in ponds and stagnant water bodies to check the growth of mosquitoes, according to Executive District Officer (Health) Dr Umer Farooq Baloch.

The steps come after the department failed to control dengue in 2010, when many people in Punjab contracted the disease.

It was decided that seminars and rallies will be organised and electronic media engaged to raise awareness among the public. Moreover, informative posters will be displayed in clinics and hospitals.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th, 2011.