RAWALPINDI: Two women died of dengue fever at the Holy Family Hospital (HFH) and the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) Hospital on Saturday as 154 more patients landed in three government hospitals in the city.

Parveen Gulzar, 65, a resident of Lunda Bazaar, was brought to the DHQ hospital in a critical condition on Sept 11. She had also spent two days in the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) with a cardiac problem but was later referred to the DHQ hospital for the treatment of the dengue fever.

The patient was sister-in-law of PPP Rawalpindi chapter former spokesman Shujaat Haider Naqvi.

Three govt hospitals received 154 patients on Saturday

Sabeena Bibi, 50, a resident of Murree Road, was brought to the HFH in a critical condition on Sept 12. She was put on a ventilator on Friday and died on Saturday morning.

A senior doctor at the HFH told Dawn that the dengue patient was brought from a private hospital where she had not been properly diagnosed.

“On her arrival at the HFH on Sept 12, the pathological test confirmed that she was a dengue patient.”

He said when condition of the patient deteriorated she was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

More than 2,000 dengue patients were brought to the HFH, Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) and the DHQ hospital during the last a few weeks.

At present, 485 dengue patients are admitted to the three hospitals; 154 of them arrived in last 24 hours against 168 who were discharged.

Meanwhile, the district administration increased its efforts to eliminate the dengue larvae and mosquitoes in the city and cantonment areas.

As many as 56 FIRs were lodged against commercial building owners after dengue larvae were found on their premises. Besides, 60 sites were sealed, including junkyards, restaurants, hotels and shops.

When contacted, Additional Deputy Commissioner (headquarters) Saima Younas said over 600 lady health workers on Saturday visited 4,713 houses and found dengue larvae in 176 sites which were fumigated by the teams.

She said Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC), environment, auqaf, food, fisheries and agriculture departments along with the health authority officials sealed commercial places and lodged FIRs against those who failed to adopt safety measures.

In a reply to a question, she said the two patients died in hospitals but their case history had been sent to dengue experts’ advisory group in Lahore which would ascertain whether or not the deaths were related to dengue.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2019