Dengue mosquito larvae set off alarm bells in Rawalpindi

Citizens' water and electricity connections will be severed for resisting surveillance teams

RAWALPINDI:

A large number of dengue larvae has been detected across the Rawalpindi district during indoor and outdoor surveillance, which has baffled health officials.

Sources said that during the surveillance, the dengue larvae were found in 7,023 houses and 781 outdoor spots in the Rawalpindi.

Due to the prevalence of dengue larvae, Rawalpindi city and Cantonment including Satellite Town, Liaquat Bagh, Saddar, Jinnah Park, Afzal Town, PF Base, Faizabad and Mohalla Zamindara have been declared high-risk areas for the dengue virus outbreak.

During the indoor anti-dengue surveillance, larvae were found in 2,267 houses in Rawalpindi, 2,160 in Rawal Town, 1,546 in Pothohar Town, 378 in Chaklala Cantonment, 294 in Taxila Cantonment, 205 in Gujjar Khan and 74 in Taxila city, 64 in Taxila ruler, 29 in Kalar Syedan and 16 in Kahuta, one each in Murree and Potohar rural area and three in Kotli Satian.

The surveillance teams destroyed the larvae and issued warnings to owners of the houses of legal action if the larvae were found in their houses again.

During the outdoor surveillance of the anti-dengue campaign, larvae were found at 359 places in Rawal Town, 146 in Rawalpindi Cantonment, 114 in Pothohar Town, 114 in Chaklala Cantonment, 32 in Gujjar Khan,24 in Taxila Cantonment, nine in Taxila ruler, four in Kalar Syedan, two in Taxila city, two in Kahuta, one each in Kotli Satian and Murree.

This year so far, eight dengue positive cases have surfaced in the Rawalpindi district. All patients have been discharged from hospitals while one dengue positive patient was admitted to the Holy Family Hospital during the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Rawalpindi Noorul Amin Mengal has ordered strict legal action against those who refuse to cooperate with dengue surveillance teams.

Chairing a meeting, he said that those who put up resistance to the surveillance teams will face the music and their water and electricity connections will be severed.

The meeting was told that after a resident of Asghar Mall Rawal Town misbehaved with the anti-dengue surveillance team, the WASA severed his water supply connection.

The Rawalpindi commissioner said that as the prevailing weather was most suitable for breeding dengue larvae, there was a need to remain vigilant to prevent the spread of larvae during the season.

He directed the health officials to expedite anti-dengue surveillance activities and eradicate the larvae. He asked the officials concerned to carry out field visits regularly to check the performance of the anti-dengue teams.

The health official told the meeting that during the last one week, the district health authority, in collaboration with other departments, registered six FIRs, sealed six premises, challaned 52, issued notices to 275 and a fine of Rs5,000 was imposed on violations of SOPs across the district.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17^th, 2022.