Best cure: Fresh juices avert dengue, advises health official

CDA health director says experts working on vaccine

ISLAMABAD: Health experts have advised dengue patients to use fresh seasonal juices as a repellent to avert the disease.   

“Dengue is a viral disease and its better treatment is use of fresh juices, lemon grass and mint,” said Capital Development Authority’s Health Services Director Dr Hasan Orooj.

As there is no specific medicine or vaccination for dengue, it can be better treated by using fresh juices, he said. People should also grow mint plant and marigold in their houses, as they help boost immunity for fighting the virus, he added.

He quoted a recent research by young doctors in the twin cities and informed that dengue patients should use juices of papaya, pomegranate, lemon, pineapple, guava, garlic, and ginger, as they carry neutral components and vitamin C, which help cure dengue on a faster pace.

There is no specific antibiotic for curing dengue virus patients, he added.

He said dengue situation in Rawalpindi, Multan, Lahore, Karachi, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is worrisome and the affected patients are mostly children and women.

Orooj appreciated Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi for its dengue treatment as the hospital has the latest equipment and a standard operating procedure regarding receiving and handling dengue patients.

We should use winter, as a window period, to clean dengue remains from affected places, to stop recurrence in upcoming summer, he added.

CDA has identified garbage and water blockage areas, broken roads and places where dengue larva could flourish in summer, and is planning to repair and clean these sites, he said.

He said there were four kinds of dengue infections, which were different from each other. Their vaccinations are also not effective for each other; hence experts are working to make a joint vaccine, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24^th, 2015.