Pakistan

Lack of measures: Fresh surge likely in dengue cases, says experts

No accurate govt data available as 3,000 cases reported nationwide

Sehrish Wasif September 15, 2015 1 min read

A dengue patient lies in the quarantine ward of the Holy Family Hospital in Rawalpindi. PHOTO: APP

ISLAMABAD:

Health experts warned on Monday of a fresh surge in dengue fever cases, citing the latest outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease in the country.

Some 3,000 dengue cases have been reported so far this year from cities like Rawalpindi, Karachi, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Haripur, among others. The number of cases has reached 200-350 but it seems like that the government is not very serious about controlling the disease.

Since no accurate and consolidated government data is currently available the extent of the threat is still unknown. Therefore no national plan could be chalked out to control its spread.

It is learnt that the provincial health departments routinely try to play down the number of cases reported from their areas.

“At present, the situation of spread of dengue fever is very alarming and in the coming days there will be a surge in the number of patients,” said Dr Najeeb Durrani, the district dengue control and surveillance in-charge at Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).

He said even in Islamabad during the last forthnight 30 cases have been reported. Out of these 10 were from urban and rural Islamabad and the rest are from other cities.

“One of the major reasons behind disease spread is the movement of patients from places where there is an outbreak,” he said. According to him, there is a need to strengthen coordination between hospitals and district health departments. This is essential for timely reporting of the case and taking action against it.

Senior vector control expert Dr Saleem Rana said, “Dengue cases have been reported from different cities from the beginning of the year but they were not taken seriously.”

Earlier this year it was predicted that there would be an outbreak of the disease. However, still no heed was paid to this warning and now the result is before all.

The Express Tribune tried to contact Punjab Health Secretary Jawad Rafique Malik but he was unavailable for comment.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th, 2015.