HYDERABAD, Nov 17: The dengue fever cases are showing a declining trend in Hyderabad as peak of the season which suits growth of dengue mosquitoes has passed, it emerged on Sunday.

Data obtained from the Diagnostic and Research Laboratory (DRL) — a public sector health facility — of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) indicated that the dengue cases were decreasing.

“We got 1,436 dengue positive cases in October…between Nov 1 and Nov 16, only 241 cases were tested positive [for dengue] in Hyderabad out of 1,470 suspected cases,” said DRL head Dr Ikram Ujjan. “This shows that the peak of season is over and the number of such cases will continue to drop in November onwards.”

The figures compiled by the DRL are different with those released by the dengue surveillance cell (DSC) of the Sindh health department. The DSC claimed that so far 548 dengue positive cases were reported in Hyderabad alone in the whole season till Nov 16.

However, DSC officials privately admitted that they usually underreported dengue cases to avoid panic among the people.

Until this season the Sindh health department had been working with an ad hoc approach to deal with dengue cases. But a surge in dengue cases had forced the government to initiate proper protocols for handling of the dengue virus before the next season began. The performance of the malaria control programme directorate of the Sindh health department was ineffective too.

Hyderabad-based health experts observed that people who were tested positive for the dengue virus needed to take extra care for the next season because if they were unfortunately hit by a different type of dengue virus in the next season they would be prone to develop serious complications.

Dr Bikha Ram, a professor of medicine at the LUMHS, said that the dengue virus was found in March and April and then September and October.

The dengue cases recorded a surge in Sept-Oct period and that’s why preventive measures were supposed to be taken in August, he added.

He said if this year’s dengue patients were hit by another type of dengue in the next season then it could make things difficult for them so they must take all precautionary measures.

“Unfortunately our preventive side is too weak. We don’t focus prevention,” said Dr Ram.

The Sindh government is concentrating on larvicidal activity to control spread of dengue virus in Sindh. A proper protocol is being worked out in this regard and such protocol is similar to dengue eradication and prevention regulations introduced by Punjab when it was hit by a similar crisis. In this season, 26 dengue related deaths are officially confirmed in Sindh with three taking place in Hyderabad.

“We are mapping areas where larvicidal activity is to be ensured. Entomologists of the provincial agriculture department will identify such sites. The government is serious and committed to tackling this issue with a proper strategy now,” said Dr Nahid Jamali, the director of the Sindh malaria control programme.

Dr Imran Ali Sheikh, an associate professor at the LUMHS, agreed with Dr Ram that the preventive side of the Sindh health department had been ineffective. “We are least bothered about primary healthcare. This [dengue or malaria] issue is a result of non-existence of a sound primary healthcare structure.”

He said that the dengue virus developed antibodies in a patient when he/she was hit and such patients were affected by the dengue virus infection if the virus changed/modified its own structure.

“Presently, the dengue is a wild virus with an identical serotype number until it changes itself to become a new serotype,” he said.

He said that the dengue infection was only lethal to the people having poor immunity like elders, children and the patients undergoing dialyses or suffering from cancer and those who had undergone a bone marrow transplantation.

Until last week, the Sindh government’s anti-dengue regulations were lying with the provincial law department for vetting. The draft document had been approved by the Sindh chief minister, and it would be notified after its vetting.

Dr Ram said that belated fumigation and awareness campaigns by the government did not work.

Meanwhile, a fumigation campaign launched in the district did not fully cover the City, Latifabad and Qasimabad taluqas. “Our Hyderabad (rural) taluka is not fully covered due to non-availability of fuel,” said an official associated with the fumigation campaign.

The fumigation started after Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon, who was elected as an MPA from the rural taluka, took notice of the increasing number of dengue cases.

The official disclosed that not all areas of the three talukas were covered. “Even some union councils of Latifabad did not witness fumigation due to non-availability of fuel by the local government authorities,” he added.