Dengue fever claims another life

88 cases reported in 24 hours as authorities fail to stem the tide of vector-borne disease

RAWALPINDI:

The spread of dengue virus has seen an upsurge in the garrison city as one more patient fell victim to the vector borne disease in the Holy Family Hospital on Thursday. As many as 88 cases of dengue virus have been reported during the last 24 hours.

Shamim Bibi, 54, a resident of Haider Colony, Chak Jalal din Mir, died in the Holy Family Hospital because of dengue. So far at least three people have fallen victim to dengue in the district whereas as many as 271 patients are under treatment in three hospitals of the city. 123 patients are admitted at Benazir Bhutto General Hospital, 73 at Holy Family Hospital and 75 at the District Headquarter Hospital.

The number of dengue positive patients has reached 150. In the current season, the number of dengue patients has reached 1,579 and 65 dengue patients from Islamabad are admitted at hospitals in Rawalpindi.

Meanwhile, a four-member team of doctors from Lahore arrived in the garrison city to monitor the anti-dengue campaign. Formulated by Director General Health Services Punjab, Dr Haroon Jahangir, the team comprises Dr Imran Basheer, Dr Mohsin Watto, Dr Ali Raza and Dr Shehzad. The team will present its report to the city commissioner while the director general health will also review the anti-dengue campaign.

On the other hand, Chief Executive of District Health Authority, Dr Ansar Ishaq, has said that the anti-dengue campaign has been accelerated; presently most of the dengue patients are from Potohar Town and Cantt area, where the teams of District Health Authority were active and fogging, spray and search for dengue larvae and killing it continues under the dengue surveillance.

Anti-dengue fumigation

The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration on Thursday continued anti-dengue fumigation in different localities across the city especially at the mosquito breeding places.

According to a spokesperson for the ICT administration, the health directorate of Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) has carried out fogging at various sectors including G-6, G-8 and I-10. Whereas, rural areas of Rawat, Tarlai, Lohi Bhir, and Tarnol were also sprayed including union councils Khanna Dak, Humak, Sihala, Pagh Panwal, and Jhangi.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon held a meeting to review the dengue situation in the federal capital. Additional deputy commissioner, assistant commissioners, officials of the health department and MCI briefed the DC on preventive measures taken to control the spread of dengue.

Around 96 patients with dengue fever were reported at different hospitals in the city during the last 24 hours taking the total number of patients to 1,657 for the year 2022, the DC informed. Memon directed the assistant commissioners, magistrates and relevant staff to ensure the implementation of anti-dengue standard operating procedures in letter and spirit.

The teams were directed to educate people about the anti-dengue measures to keep them safe against the mosquito bites. In order to make the anti-dengue campaign successful, the DC said, the city was divided into different zones and in each zone, designated teams were deployed.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2022.