RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD: As many as 144 dengue patients were reported in the twin cities on Sunday.

A total of 230 patients were admitted in three government-run hospitals including 61 in Holy Family Hospital (HFH) in Satellite Town, 102 in Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) on Murree Road and 67 patients in District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital in Raja Bazaar.

The condition of most patients in hospitals is stable however, two patients are critical in HFH and BBH. Doctors said that patients had been shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for better care.

As many as 175 patients are from Rawalpindi, 41 from Islamabad, five from Attock, two from Bagh and one patient each arrived from Abbottabad, Haripur, Rajanpur, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Sudhanoti and Mohmand.

In Rawalpindi, there are 33 union councils from where more than three dengue patients surfaced while in 18 union councils, more than five dengue patients are reported on a daily basis.

Rawalpindi District Health Authority (RDHA) Chief Executive Officer Dr Anser Ishaq told Dawn that health teams speed up the drive to avoid further spread of dengue virus in the district and focused on 51 union councils from where most of the patients surfaced.

He said that fogging was carried out in low lying areas where water accumulated after yesterday’s heavy rain fall. He said that the recent spell of rain also provided a conducive environment for breeding of dengue larvae.

He said that a mobile laboratory had been deployed at union council Chak Jalaldin from where dengue virus spread in the city. He said that the number of new cases reduced.

Meanwhile, 68 people were diagnosed with dengue in the federal capital during the last 24 hours taking the total number of cases reported in the capital to 1,991. Six people have died from the disease out of which four were from rural areas and two were from urban areas.

Taxila

The vector-borne dengue fever has started spreading in various parts of Attock district, especially the city area.

The district administration as well as health authorities in Attock are on their toes as the number of dengue cases increased alarmingly with scores of suspected patients swarming public and private hospitals.

Health experts say reporting of dengue fever cases from such a number of localities has made the situation alarming as it may increase the chances of a much more severe outbreak in the district.

According to official data, the number of confirmed cases rose to 31 on Saturday. Among the patients, 19 belonged to Attock city, seven to Fatehjang, three to Hassanabdal and one each to Hazro and Pindigheb. Official sources said that so far 3,917 suspected patients have surfaced in the district among them 667 belonged to Attock city, 822 to Hazro, 537 to Hassanabdal, 378 to Fatehjang, 956 to Pindigheb and 557 to Jand.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Hassan Waqar Cheema visited various areas to check the activities of surveillance teams and directed the officials to ensure the implementation of the standard operating procedures and create awareness among the people about the hazards of the dengue.

In addition, he called upon the residents to keep an eye on junkyards, schools and under-construction buildings and remove water to prevent the spread of dengue larvae.

The deputy commissioner said that the district administration had directed the authorities concerned, especially the health department and anti-dengue teams, to strictly monitor the situation.

He said special attention should be paid to the surveillance of hot-spots across all the six tehsils of the district.

Later, he also visited the tehsil headquarters hospital Hassanabdal and reviewed the arrangements taken by the health department and hospital administration for the treatment of dengue patients.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2022