ISLAMABAD: Two persons died of dengue and 17 more people were found having the disease in the capital on Wednesday.

District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Zaeem Zia told Dawn that dengue was spreading in various cities, including Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

“September is the last month when dengue peaks after which the temperature starts to fall,” he said.

Due to decrease in temperature, breeding of dengue larvae ends and so does its spread, he said, adding that last year over 13,000 dengue cases were reported in Islamabad.

Dr Zia said in the current year, so far 94 people had been found suffering from dengue fever out of which 81 were reported only in September. As many as 67 patients were admitted to various hospitals of the twin cities.

The DHO said 67 cases were detected from the rural areas and 27 from the urban areas, adding that on Tuesday, 17 dengue patients were traced - 14 in the rural areas and three in urban areas.

Dr Zia said the persons who died of dengue were under treatment in the hospitals and were residents of Ghauri Town, adding that indoor residual spraying had been carried out in 807 suspicious houses and fogging in 2,506 spots. A total of 36 teams of the District Health Office visited 1,231 houses and found dengue larvae in 15 residences.

The teams also found 724 open containers, with 10 having the larvae, he said, adding that 606 containers were covered and 67 destroyed. The teams also destroyed 610 potential breeding sites of the larvae, the DHO added.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2021