Cold weather brings relief to citizens facing dengue virus

Only 59 cases surface in Rawalpindi during last 24 hours

RAWALPINDI:

The onset of winter has brought welcome relief to the citizens of Rawalpindi district, as dengue fever cases had dropped drastically with the change of weather during the last five days. According to health officials, three major hospitals in Rawalpindi reported only 59 dengue positive cases during the past 24 hours.

Of the 274 beds in the three allied hospitals, 126 were occupied by the dengue infected patients. Of the new cases, 31 patients were admitted to the Holy Family Hospital (HFH), 13 to the Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) and 15 to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital in the last 24 hours.

Of the 3,013 dengue infected patients in the district, 2,934 have recovered successfully with only three deaths.

Rawalpindi Medical University (RMU) Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Omar, District Health Authority (DHA) Chief Executive Dr Faiza Kanwal and dengue ward in charge at BBH Dr Inayat said that the severity of dengue has significantly decreased with the drop of the mercury level.

The health officials, however, cautioned that the threat was not completely over and citizens must protect themselves against the dengue mosquito in the evening.

They urged the citizens to take measures to prevent the breeding of dengue larvae in their surroundings and at homes and to continue the use of insecticides.

Meanwhile, anti-dengue teams have registered 273 FIRs and sealed 379 buildings over violations of dengue standard operating procedures from January 1 to November 8.

The teams issued 1,792 warning notices and imposed 868 fines collectively worth almost Rs 1 million.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2021.