‘Under control’: Number of dengue patients in the Punjab reaches 2,296

48 of 51 patients in the Punjab were from Lahore.

LAHORE:

Despite the drop in temperature, several patients have tested positive for dengue fever this week.

According to data obtained from the Health Department, the total number of dengue fever patients in the province has gone up to 2,296. As many as 51 people tested positive for dengue fever on Monday-Tuesday, 48 of them from Lahore. Three patients tested positive for dengue fever in Rawalpindi.

Breakdown of the data shows that the Cantonment area has been affected the most. According to the data, 10 patients were reported from the Cantonment area, eight from Data Ganj Bakhsh Town, six patients each were reported from Gulberg, Nishtar Town, Ravi Town and Shalimar Town. Two patients were reported from Allama Iqbal Town and Samanabad Town each. One patient each was reported from Aziz Bhatti Town and Wagha Town.



Vector Borne Diseases Additional DG Jaffar Ilyas said the situation in Punjab was under control. The number of dengue patients being reported was normal and much less than other countries with the dengue problem. “Sri Lanka and Thailand have been battling dengue fever but still have hundreds of thousands of dengue patients each year. We have reduced the number of dengue patients in the Punjab to a few thousand...this is quite normal,” he said.

Lahore has a population of 10 million, he said, having 48 dengue fever patients should not ring alarm bells. The breeding of dengue mosquitoes will end once the temperature drops further, said Ilyas.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2013.