Fighting virus: Thousands of houses surveyed for dengue larvae

Saidu Teaching Hospital records 23 patients as yet.

MINGORA: Thousands of houses have been surveyed in Mingora and its suburbs to check for the dengue larvae.

“Health workers and volunteers visited 107,000 houses in a door-to-door campaign to check for the dengue larvae,” said the assistant commissioner, Ashfaq Khan, in a media briefing. “Apart from houses and shops, open areas have also been surveyed. The larvae were found in more than 700 areas which have already been affected by the virus.”

He said dozens of shopkeepers have also been fined for leaving old tires on the roofs of their shops. “Day and night health officials and volunteers are working to control the dengue virus from spreading further,” he said.

The total count of patients affected by the bug has so far reached 23 in the records of the Saidu Teaching Hospitals, as one more patient was admitted on Friday.

“The new patient, identified as Khurshaid, 26, was brought to the hospital from Sakha Cheena, Amankot. At present there are total three patients being treated in the dengue unit,” said Roshan Ali, a focal person for the dengue unit in the hospital.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 19^th, 2014.