Preventive measures: ‘Raise awareness to beat dengue’

Larvae found at 260 sites in Lahore, 7 in Faisalabad.

LAHORE:

An Agriculture Department team of 55 entomologists found dengue larvae in 267 out of 27,718 locations visited in the Punjab in 2013. The larvae were found in 260 sites in Lahore and in seven places in Faisalabad, Agriculture Additional Secretary (Planning) Ahmad Ali Zafar said at a seminar held at the Agriculture House in connection with the Anti-Dengue Day on Sunday.

Agriculture Director General Muhammad Anjum Ali, Pest Warning Director Malik Fayyaz Ahmad, Agricultural Information Director Rafiq Akhtar, several officials of the Agriculture Department and civil society members attended the seminar.

The Directorate of Agricultural Information presented a documentary on dengue mosquito control. Agriculture Department entomologist Muhammad Shehbaz briefed the participants about the dengue virus; its growth, control, different stages of its development and its eradication through mechanical, biological and chemical means.

He said that 60 locations had been identified as being dengue hotspots during the pre-season (February to July) and 207 from July to November. In 2011, 1,898 sites of the 12,961 visited had been declared hotspots. Last year, dengue larvae were found at 399 locations of the 20,586 sites visited.

Shehbaz said that dengue mosquitoes propagated best between temperatures of 24 and 33 degrees centigrade. They could even survive at 16 degrees and 42 degrees centigrade.

The agriculture director general told the participants that dengue fever could be prevented by keeping the environment dry, clean and drained of stagnant water. The use of plastic shopping bags must be discouraged and water pots in homes and offices should be properly covered, he said.

Zafar said that the department’s entomologists had worked very hard to make the anti-dengue campaign successful. They have been making concerted efforts to inspect sites and eradicate the mosquitoes’ breeding sites, he said.

The Agriculture Department held awareness walks from the Agriculture House to the Lahore Press Club and from Thokar Niaz Baig to Judicial Colony.

Awareness literature was also distributed during the walk.

Health Minister Khalil Tahir Sindhu arranged for special vehicles from the Directorate General of Health Services to carry banners and distribute literature on anti-dengue measures at 10am on Saturday. He said that the Health Department had taken special measures to control dengue fever. Public hospitals have been directed to establish special dependency units to treat dengue patients, he said.

Rising count

Two more dengue fever patients were reported in the Punjab over the last 24 hours. Vector Borne Diseases Additional Director General Dr Jaffar Ilyas said a patient had been admitted to Mayo Hospital. The other case was reported from Sheikhupura. The total number of dengue fever patients in the province is 29.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 19^th, 2013.