Cooling affect: Dengue cases register drastic drop

35 per cent fall in the number of suspected patients visiting allied hospitals.

RAWALPINDI:

The number of dengue fever cases is considerably reducing day by day as winter sets in.

According to health experts, the dengue mosquitoes do not breed in the winter months, therefore the virus is not transmitted to human beings.

Media should however keep the campaign alive and arrange for awareness lectures in schools and colleges in addition to spraying the breeding sites of the dengue mosquito, said a health official.

He said that the death toll from the virus has reached to 317, in which 274 belong to Lahore.

The focal person for Rawalpindi Medical College and Allied Hospitals Rawalpindi, Deputy Medical Superintendent Holy Family Hospital Dr Javed Hayat talking to APP on Friday said currently no positive dengue patient is admitted in any hospital of the town. The average figure of dengue suspect patients attended by the three teaching hospitals of the town is coming down rapidly. So far, over 2,515 suspected cases have been registered with allied hospitals.

The allied hospitals of the town have received 730 dengue positive cases. The National Institute of Health is, however, yet to confirm status of 735 suspects.

The number of patients visiting the out patient departments set up at the allied hospitals has noticed a downward trend as during last 24 hours, as many as 330 patients were examined of which 10 were admitted after being suspected for the infection. The total number of suspected dengue patients currently admitted in the three hospitals is 36. Few days back, 500 dengue suspects were visiting the allied hospitals. To date, the Holy Family Hospital (HFH) has registered 1,140 dengue fever suspects of which 298 have been tested positive while 296 recovered after medical treatment.

At the Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH), a total of 631 suspects have been registered so far of which 142 tested positive with 185 negative cases. The report of 304 patients is still awaited.

About 744 total dengue suspects were registered in the current season with the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) .

Training and preparation    

Secretary health Punjab Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan lauded the efforts of the doctors who performed their duties on Eid days. He said that Punjab government had drafted a plan to send nurses and paramedical staff abroad for getting training against the virus.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12^th, 2011.