Dengue outbreak likely to intensify in Oct

Fears of outbreak leads officials to declare next month particularly dangerous

RAWALPINDI:

The spread of dengue virus is expected to intensify in the month of October as the arrival of patients suffering from the vector-borne disease continues across Rawalpindi hospitals. As many as 78 citizens have fallen prey to dengue fever in the last 24 hours.

There are 64 dengue patients in the three hospitals of the city at present of which 64% of the patients are from the garrison city while 36% are from Islamabad and other areas. The monitoring team of Director General Health Services Punjab has visited the hospitals and different areas.

As many as 219 patients are under treatment on 404 beds in three hospitals in the city. 100 patients are admitted in Benazir Bhutto General Hospital, 66 in the Holy Family Hospital and 55 are under treatment at the District Headquarter Hospital. The number of dengue virus positive patients in three hospitals has reached 139 while 1,690 dengue patients have been reported so far in the current season. Meanwhile, 46 dengue patients from Islamabad are currently admitted in Rawalpindi hospitals.

The team of four doctors formed by Director General Health Services Punjab Dr Haroon Jahangir, including Dr Imran Bashir, Dr Mohsin Watto, Dr Ali Raza, and Dr Shehzad visited the dengue wards of the Holy Family Hospital and the Benazir Bhutto General Hospital. The team inquired about the number of patients outside the district and spraying in the residential areas of the patients. The team also directed to improve the anti-dengue campaign in the high-risk areas regarding dengue.

Chief Executive of the District Health Authority, Dr Ishaq, said that the anti-dengue campaign has been ramped up. At present, the majority of dengue patients belong to the areas of Potohar Town and Cantonment, where teams of the District Health Authority are fully active and work on fogging, spraying and dengue surveillance to detect and destroy larvae is ongoing. The teams will submit the monitoring report with recommendations to the health minister and the director general health Punjab.

Meanwhile, along with the provision of free dengue tests and treatment facilities in the three hospitals of Rawalpindi, training sessions on dengue awareness and prevention of dengue have been started for attendants of the patients. The monitoring team that visited the dengue wards of the Holy Family Hospital and the Benazir Bhutto General Hospital was told that after 2019, it is feared that the outbreak could reach its peak from October 9 to October 25 during the current year in which the number of patients may increase abnormally.

Vacations for staff cancelled

Meanwhile, owing to the alarming rise in cases of dengue virus, Deputy Commissioner Tahir Farooq has cancelled all kinds of vacations, including Sundays, of all employees and officers of all government institutions under the supervision of the district administration throughout the district.

The possibility of the outbreak spreading to Rawalpindi has led healthcare professionals to declare the time period from October 1-31 as particularly dangerous. As a result, the deputy commissioner has cancelled the vacations of all staffers. Additionally, a warning has been issued that strict disciplinary action will be taken if any employee is found absent.

 

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