No sweat: Threat of dengue-fever minimal this year say experts

‘Only 1.94 per cent mosquitoes and larvae tested positive for dengue’.

LAHORE:

There is no threat of a dengue fever outbreak this year, participants of a seminar at the Punjab University Department of Zoology said on Monday.

Experts at the Punjab University Dengue Research Group said their results of laboratory tests on adult dengue mosquitoes, larvae and other samples concluded that the possibility of a dengue fever outbreak this year was very low.



Participants spoke about raising awareness and preventive measures in this regard.

Virologist Dr Idrees Khan said the World Health Organisation and Services Institute of Medical Sciences had sent blood samples of five people suspected of contracting dengue fever but none of them tested positive for dengue fever.

He said they had conducted tests on 706 larvae and 169 adult dengue mosquitoes in laboratories at the Centre for Excellence in Molecular Biology. Of those, 12 larvae and five adult mosquitoes had tested positive for dengue – 1.94 per cent of the total number of larvae and adult mosquitoes tested.

Vice Chancellor Mujahid Kamran said the PU DRG’s predictions appeared to be true so far. He instructed all heads of departments, hostel wardens and superintendants to ensure cleanliness on their premises and to utilise all resources to eradicate dengue from the PU campus.



MPA Khawaja Imran Nazir said controlling dengue fever had been a great challenge for the Punjab government, but the chief minister had devised an excellent strategy to deal with the situation. He said civil society and the media had played a remarkable role in helping the government thwart the threat of an epidemic. He said the government’s ability to curb the threat in such a short period of time had surprised even Sri Lankan doctors who had been battling the threat of dengue fever for several decades. “The government has been engaged in a war against dengue fever for the past three years...even on Eid.” He said it was highly unfortunate that circumstances had forced the government to turn its attention away from serving the public to matters political. “Changing governments does not translate into a desirable change till we change our attitudes.”

DRG Chairman Dr Saeed Akhter gave a presentation on the results of tests on mosquitoes collected from the Punjab University campus and other areas.

Later, the vice chancellor led an awareness walk from the Undergraduate Study Centre to the Vice Chancellor’s office. Faculty members, employees and students participated in the walk.

Kamran, Provincial Assembly Member Nazir, Department of Zoology Chairman Muhammad Akhter, Dengue Research Group Chairman Saeed Akhter, Dr Muhammad Idrees, Dr Abdul Ghaffar from Comsats Islamabad and Resident Officer II Malik Muhammad Zaheer participated in the event.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2014.