Without an end: Dengue rampant in Swat with three more cases

MINGORA:

Three more dengue cases were reported on Friday, taking the total number of patients to 146 in the valley.

Three patients, identified as Nihayat Bibi, 27, of Spal Bandai, Haseena Bibi, 21, of Gul Kada and Islam Bibi, 30, of Amankot, tested positive for dengue fever at Saidu Teaching Hospital (STH).

Roshan Ali, the focal person of the dengue unit at the hospital, said three patients were also discharged from the hospital after recovering. “Two patients, a man and a woman, are undergoing treatment in the dengue unit of STH while 142 patients have been discharged after recovering,” said Ali. He added not every patient diagnosed with dengue is admitted as some undergo treatment at home.

The epidemic is on the rise in the valley with cases being reported every day.

Although medical experts claim the virus will die down in the coming months since the carrier mosquito cannot survive the cold, the record from the previous year states otherwise.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13^th, 2014.