ISLAMABAD: As many as 141 patients of dengue fever surfaced in the federal capital on Monday as the district health officer claimed that a downward trend in cases had been observed during the last two days.

Islamabad reported 152 and 147 cases on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, while 141 were recorded on Monday, District Health Officer Dr Zaeem Zia said.

He said 61 patients were reported from rural areas and 80 from urban localities, adding that 21 of them were admitted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), six were in Holy Family Hospital, five each were in Capital Hospital and Benazir Bhutto Hospital, two were under treatment in Polyclinic and one was in District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital. A total of 101 dengue patients were admitted to private hospitals.

According to the breakdown, 19 cases were reported from Tarlai, followed by 14 from Koral, seven each from Tarnol and Bhara Kahu, five from Sohan, four from Alipur, two each from Sohan and Rawat and one from Kirpa, Dr Zia said.

The tally of overall cases in the capital has increased to 2,089 with 1,310 coming from the rural areas and 779 from the urban side, the DHO added.

During the last 24 hours, indoor residual spray was carried out in 140 houses and 171 fogging activities were conducted in Islamabad to eliminate potential breeding sites of dengue mosquitoes, Dr Zia, said, adding that different teams of the District Health Office also found 27 potential breeding sites and eliminated them.

The team also visited 297 houses and found one residence with dengue mosquito larvae, Dr Zia said, adding that out of 95 open containers, three were found with larvae.

APP adds: District Health Officer Dr Ehsan Ghani on Monday said 60 to 70 dengue cases were being reported daily in the district compared to 160 to 170 in 2019.

He said though the prevailing situation of dengue was worrying, it was not out of control.

Dr Ehsan said most cases had surfaced in the district from areas that were close to the federal capital, adding that high-risk localities - Dhoke Hassu, Hazara Colony and Dhoke Najju - had not witnessed any positive case so far.

The health officer said: “We are expecting the temperature to decrease after last day’s rain but it is still around 27 to 28°C.”

Until it does not reduce further, breeding of dengue mosquitoes will not stop, he added.

He expressed the hope that the number of dengue fever patients would decline as the weather got colder in the coming days.

Meanwhile, around 112 new dengue cases have been brought to allied hospitals of the city during the last 48 hours, raising the tally of confirmed cases to 1,654.

Health officials said the number of beds for dengue patients had been increased from 92 to 274 in allied hospitals, with 175 beds in Holy Family Hospital, 69 in DHQ Hospital and 30 in Benazir Bhutto Hospital.

He said hospitals had full capacity and the capacity to deal with any situation arising from the seasonal disease outbreak. In addition, a comprehensive anti-dengue campaign was being run to prevent the dengue virus from spreading in Rawalpindi district.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2021