Dengue death toll climbs to 186 in Punjab
Nine more people have died from dengue fever in Punjab in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 186 in the province, of which 168 were from Lahore.
In his daily briefing for reporters, Director General Health Dr Aslam Chaudhry said 312 confirmed cases of dengue have been reported in Punjab in the past 24 hours, of which, 258 were from Lahore.
The total number of dengue patients in Punjab is 14,760, of which 12,761 are from Lahore. He said 14,448 patients have recovered, out of which 12,503 belonged to Lahore. At present 1,592 patients have been admitted in various hospitals of the province and 1,297 patients are under treatment in Lahore.
Dr Chaudhry claimed that there has been a considerable decrease in the number of patients suffering from dengue. He said the government is concerned over the deaths taking place due to dengue haemorrhagic fever and medical experts are trying to save lives, during a media briefing at King Edward Medical University (KEMU). Indonesian medical experts are assisting doctors in providing treatment to dengue patients in high dependency units of hospitals, he added. Vice Chancellor KEMU Dr Asad Aslam Khan said a 40 per cent decrease has been witnessed in the patients of common fever coming to hospitals.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif formally launched the Punjab government’s Facebook page at the University of Lahore to promote public awareness for the eradication of dengue virus on Friday. Titled ‘Shahbaz Sharif Anti-dengue Community’, the page aims to mobilise people, especially students in the campaign against dengue virus.
Dengue fever claimed another life in Faisalabad, where there is a high prevalence of the epidemic with 31 new cases reported on Friday.
(With additional reporting by Shamsul Islam in Faisalabad)
Published in The Express Tribune, October 8th, 2011.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ