Dengue red alert issued after cases spurt

The district administration has issued a dengue virus red alert for at least three areas of the garrison city after a large number of cases surfaced in the last few days.

Sources said Girja Road, Chak Jaladin and Dupri areas have been in the grip of dengue mosquitoes where 60 cases have surfaced in the last few days. The district administration has declared these areas red zones and mobile laboratories have been set up for carrying out mass tests.

Health authorities have also been directed to set up camp offices in the affected areas.

Sources said that special teams from Lahore have also reached Rawalpindi and carried out an inspection of the affected areas. During the inspection, it transpired that the main reason for the dengue spread in Girja Road, Chak Jaladin and Dupri was because of the lack of water supply.

Sources said that it also transpired that residents of these affected areas store water in open containers, which provides a suitable environment for mosquitoes to breed and spread in the entire city. The district administration has asked the Water and Sanitation Agency to ensure uninterrupted water supply in the affected areas so that the people did not have to store water.

Health officials said that 36 more persons tested positive for the dengue virus during the last 24 hours. District Coordinator Epidemics Prevention and Control Dr Sajjad Mehmood said on Wednesday that the number of dengue fever patients in district health facilities was continuously increasing.

During the last 24 hours, he said, 27 patients were brought to hospitals from Potohar Town, three from Taxila Cantonment, two from Rawalpindi Cantonment and Rawalpindi city and one from Kahuta and Taxila rural area. He said that around 142 dengue fever suspects were brought to the city's hospitals in the last 24 hours and of them, 36 tested positive and 14 probable.

He also said that 10 dengue-positive patients were admitted to the Holy Family Hospital, three to the Benazir Bhutto Hospital and one to the District Headquarters Hospital. Dr Sajjad said that the district administration has sealed 352 premises, registered 897 FIRs, issued 1,160 challans and 5,427 notices, and imposed a fine of Rs3,145,500 on violations of SOPs in the district since January 1, 2022. He said that a full-scale fumigation drive was under way in localities, where dengue larvae had been found.

Sources said that revenue officials have also been assigned the duty to take part in the fumigation drive being carried out in the affected areas. The district administration has ordered all officers concerned to be present in the affected areas.

Dr Sajjad said that the prevailing weather was suitable for the breeding of dengue larvae and advised citizens to adopt precautionary measures and inform the authorities concerned if they found the dengue larvae in their houses and surroundings.

With additional input from APP

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2022.