Dengue stalks Punjab amid rains

Rawalpindi, Lahore account for most of 52 fresh cases

LAHORE:

Punjab government’s efforts to curb dengue fever appear to be faltering as the disease is spreading in the major districts of the province, including Lahore.

At least 52 new patients of dengue fever were confirmed in the province during the past 24 hours, including 28 in Rawalpindi district and 12 in Lahore.

According to sources in the health sector, a poor strategy of Punjab health department is the top reason of rise in dengue cases besides failure of the district administration officials to take the issue seriously.

Health department sources said the local administrations in various districts had not shown a satisfactory performance in keeping in check the spread of the disease.

Even in the provincial capital, the local administration is not actively pursuing the anti- dengue measures, the sources said.

At a time when the monsoon rains are lashing Punjab and the provincial government is struggling hard to cope with the situation in the flood-hit areas, the health department and local administration of Lahore and other district are struggling overcome the dengue threat to the people.

Hospitals in the big cities are daily receiving dengue patients, with 52 new cases reported in government and private hospitals during the past day.

Sources in the Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department said 28 dengue patients were confined in Rawalpindi, 12 in Lahore, four in Gujranwala and two in Faisalabad.

During the first seven and a half months of the ongoing year, total 611 dengue cases were confirmed in Punjab.

The highest number was reported from Lahore where 279 dengue patients were confirmed, showing that the metropolis is at the highest risk.

The fever has claimed two lives in the province during the year.

At least 116 patients of dengue fever are currently admitted in various hospitals of Punjab.

“In Lahore, 29 patients of dengue fever are admitted for treatment. Meanwhile, the health department is engaged in efforts against the disease,” Punjab Health Secretary Ali Jaan Khan said on Tuesday.

The previous day, health departments teams checked 117,856 outdoor places and found dengue larva at 1941 spots.

The teams also inspected 446,428 indoor places and also found various locations where the larva was present.

“We eliminated dengue larva from 1384 locations in Lahore and we are requesting people to take precautionary measures for their safety,” the provincial secretary said. He said the department had also appealed to religious scholars to inform the people about the disease.

The people should avoid letting water accumulate in their homes and outside while also maintaining cleanliness, he added.

The department’s spokesman Sayed Hamad Raza also said maximum steps had been taken to handle the dengue situation. “We also have the best arrangements in our hospitals and we are monitoring the situation in all districts,” he added.

On the other hand, doctors said the coming two months would be crucial with respect to the dengue risk in the province.

The health department should make preparations keeping in view the extent of the risk to the citizens.

A senior official of the health department said in reply to a question that anti-dengue mosquito spray at the hotspots in Lahore and other districts should be done in the ongoing season.

However, the local administration is still holding meetings to organise the efforts.

“There are hundreds of hotspots in Lahore that need attention of the Punjab health department. There is aso need that the government should arrange spray at schools and mosques. These places have proved to be at high risk of the spread of dengue fever,” the official said.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 22^nd, 2022.