Health officials launch anti-dengue campaign

Say they are now focusing on dengue as coronavirus is nearing its end

RAWALPINDI:

The District Health Authority (DHA) in Rawalpindi district has focused on the anti-dengue campaign as the severity of the third wave of coronavirus is nearing its end.

The district health authorities have identified 7,815 hotspots that have presence or were seen as breeding of dengue larvae. These spots were located during the ongoing anti-dengue campaign in Rawalpindi. On Monday, teams of the health department visited multiple hotspots to destroy these sites.

Despite the fact that only one positive case of dengue has been reported in the district to date, a plan has been drawn up to intensify surveillance against dengue from June 1 to June 28.

According to data compiled by the District Emergency Response Committee (DERC), which monitors ongoing anti-dengue activities, surveillance to locate dengue larvae has been completed in 19,444 houses in Murree, Kahuta, Gujjar Khan, Kotli Satiyan, Kallar Syedan, and Taxila tehsils of the district.

The DERC officials said larvae were found in 484 houses which were destroyed on the spot and these houses were marked for close monitoring. The officials issued warnings to the occupants of these houses that in no circumstances should they allow dengue larvae regrow in their homes.

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During outdoor surveillance in the district, 44,945 sites were surveyed and dengue larvae were found in 55 of them but they were destroyed on the spot. During indoor dengue surveillance in Rawalpindi, 82,978 houses were inspected and dengue larvae were found in 512 houses while in outdoor surveillance, out of 57,668 places, larvae were located at 91 places which were destroyed.

In Rawalpindi cantonment board areas, dengue larvae were found in 369 houses during a survey of 50,793 houses.

According to DERC, there were no dengue-positive patients in the district between June 1, 2019 and June 24, 2020. However, in 2021, a dengue-positive patient has been confirmed in Rawalpindi cantonment board area and another in Gujjar Khan. At present, there are no dengue patients in any government hospital in Rawalpindi district.

Despite the low penetration, wards for dengue patients have been set up in all hospitals while the weekly DERC meeting chaired by the deputy commissioner has issued guidelines to the health department.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 29^th, 2021.