Dengue prevention gains urgency

Inspection of offices, hospitals intensified

LAHORE:

Amid a respite from the threat of coronavirus for vaccinated citizens, a spike in cases of dengue fever has made it imperative for the people to take additional precautionary measures to protect themselves.

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has issued strict instructions for protective measures against dengue, after which anti-mosquito spray has been started in all government offices. Regular inspections for ensuring cleanliness and spray have also been started in government educational institutions.

Officials of government hospitals have been directed to monitor the dengue wards round the clock and provide all possible medical facilities to the patients.

The chief minister also paid a surprise visit to the Social Security Hospital and said he would monitor the health services being provided to the people. Strict action would be taken in case of negligence, he warned.

Read Hospitals get more beds amid dengue spike

Teams have been mobilised to keep private hospitals, educational institutions, resorts and other public places dengue-free. According to the sources in the provincial health department, insecticides are available in large quantities to eradicate the dengue mosquito. The facility has been provided in every union council office.

According to medical experts, the coronavirus dangerously infects the lungs, while the dengue mosquito bite attacks the blood platelets. In view of the large number of deaths caused by coronavirus around the world, billions of rupees are being spent on vaccinating the people against it.

Reports of the health authorities have confirmed that about 95 per cent of the new patients of coronavirus in the country’s hospitals are those who have not been vaccinated. Almost all the vaccinated people are fully recovering.

Meanwhile, dengue virus has emerged as the second most contagious disease currently, with the Punjab health department registering over 1,000 patients of the fever this year.

The provincial specialised, primary and secondary healthcare authorities have strictly instructed the hospital administrators to monitor the dengue and coronavirus wards.

The commissioners are also actively supervising a campaign against dengue virus with door-to-door inspection and continuous monitoring of the streets, gardens and other places where the larvae can breed.

However, a health expert said increasing food prices were making it difficult for people living below the poverty line to maintain a healthy diet required to build immunity against diseases, especially to recover from the platelet count loss caused by dengue fever.

Read more Dengue on the rise in Pindi

According to Punjab Health Secretary Imran Sikandar Baloch, dengue prevention activities have been intensified across the province.

In Lahore, 190 patients are under treatment in public sector hospitals and 81 patients are admitted in private hospitals.

Since January 2021, as many as 15 cabinet committee meetings have been held to review the dengue situation. Out of eight million homes in Punjab, and 3.5 million homes in Lahore, most of these have been checked by surveillance teams. In Lahore 31,000 homes were identified for dengue larva. Case response was initiated at 500,000 homes. The areas most affected by dengue are DHA, Cantt, Johar Town, Allama Iqbal Town.

The provincial secretary pointed out that precautionary measures against dengue are very important in the monsoon season. Citizens should not let rainwater accumulate in residential areas.

The official appealed to the people to take precautionary measures against dengue as well as coronavirus.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2021.