LAHORE, May 31: A senior health official said on Thursday that 299 suspected cases of dengue were reported across Punjab and five of these were confirmed in the last three months. Addressing a seminar on “Prevention and Control of Dengue” at the University of Health Sciences (UHS), Punjab Health Additional Director General Dr Jaffar Ilyas said an effective vector surveillance system had been launched in Lahore and so far more than 34,000 points had been checked for larvae of Aedes Aegypti, the mosquito responsible for the spread of dengue.

He said eggs and larvae were found at 46 points. The seminar was arranged by the Punjab health department in collaboration with the World Health Organization.

Sri Lankan team head Dr Paba said arrangements made by the Punjab government for dengue prevention and control were satisfactory and hoped that the dengue situation would remain under control in coming months.

He said it was heartening to note that the Punjab government had introduced a chapter in the syllabi for grade five to grade twelve on dengue protection and prevention.

Chief Minister’s Secretariat Research and Development head Dr Waseem Akram said dengue mosquito was quite active in the end of February and completed first phase of its reproduction by May. The second phase started from mid-July and continued till November. He said it was important to control mosquito reproduction in the first phase.

UHS Vice-Chancellor Prof IA Naveed said local doctors, health officials and dengue experts enhanced their knowledge and clinical experience during the last one year with the help of Sri Lankan experts and would surely help eradicate the disease.

Punjab government’s chief social mobiliser Shaista Pervaiz Malik said dengue was now more of a social issue than a disease. She said volunteers were being registered from schools, colleges and universities and so far more than 10,000 people had been registered to go door to door to educate people about dengue prevention and control.

Punjab Health Director General Dr Nisar Ahmed Cheema said the media should act more responsibly while reporting dengue cases. He emphasised the need to improve training of nurses for better service to dengue patients in hospitals.