Relentless increase : Almost 2,000 dengue-positive patients in Rawalpindi

Nine private hospitals have been asked to share patient load of public hospitals

ISLAMABAD: In what is becoming a never-ending nightmare for health authorities, as many as 75 people were tested positive for dengue fever in Rawalpindi during the last 24 hours.

This has taken the total number of cases reported from the city to 1,740 so far this year, with several fatalities.

The health department was given a deadline of October 23 to bring down the dengue fever count; however so far it has failed to achieve the target, said a senior official in the district health department.

The official said leaking water pipes are one the major reasons behind the spread of dengue fever.

“The leaking pipes supplying fresh drinking water provide favourable breeding grounds to mosquitoes, along with drinking water stocked at homes,” he said.

The official believed that a lack of awareness among people, especially those living in underlying areas of the city, regarding prevention and control of the disease has also led to the disease’s spread.

As the patient count increases, public hospitals are facing difficulty in managing the patient load and have thus decided to shift patients suffering from other diseases to private hospitals in order to accommodate more dengue patients, it has been learnt.

A total of nine private hospitals have been asked to share the patient load of the public hospitals, shared the official.

Senior officials from the Punjab government came to Rawalpindi on Monday to review the dengue control policy, took samples of insecticides, and directed that fogging be carried out a day now at high-risk union councils, the official informed.

It is hoped the recent rain spell, and the subsequent mercury drop, will help slow down the adverse affect of dengue mosquitoes.

Dr Muhammad Saleem Rana, a vector control expert said considering the situation of last few years in Rawalpindi, it was expected that the city has a potential to eliminate the disease but no serious efforts were made to make that possible.

There are chances the surge in cases will continue for at least a month, he predicted.

“The activities of the dengue mosquito will be affected when the temperature will drop to 20 degree Celsius or below and continue,” he explained.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20^th, 2015.