Dengue: Five more die on Wednesday

LAHORE: The official death toll as a result of dengue reached 224 in Lahore after five more people lost their lives to the virus during the last 24 hours. According to the Health Department figure the total number of dengue patients in the province has risen to 17,772, of which 15,235 are from Lahore. So far 252 people have died of dengue in the Punjab. Speaking at the daily meeting briefing on dengue at King Edward Medical University Secretary Agriculture Punjab (Focal Person for Dengue) Capt. (R) Arif Nadeem reiterated that Punjab Government would provide financial assistance to the heirs of all those who died due to dengue in government and private hospitals without any discrimination. Talking to The Express Tribune, member of Dengue Control Cell said that dengue mosquitoes couldn’t sustain temperature below 20 degree centigrade, adding that rain would bring considerable decrease in breeding of dengue mosquitoes. The Met office, however, said that there was no chance of rain in the next 48 hours.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20^th, 2011.