• 86 cases reported in capital, 28 in Rawalpindi
• DHO says hospital bed occupancy less than 50pc in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: As many as 86 cases of dengue fever were reported in different parts of the federal capital on Tuesday.

District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Zaeem Zia said 66 of the cases were reported from the rural areas and 20 from the urban areas of the capital.

He said 31 patients were admitted to the Federal General Hospital, 17 to Holy Family Hospital, three to Benazir Bhutto Hospital and two to the DHQ hospital Rawalpindi.

The others were being treated in private hospitals.

The DHO said 34 cases were reported from Tarlai, 14 from Alipur, 11 from Koral, four from Tarnol, two from Bara Kahu and one from Sohan.

So far, 657 cases of dengue have been reported in the capital - 435 from rural areas and 222 from urban areas.

Occupancy of beds less than 50pc

Despite there being a health crisis in the country due to Covid-19, every hospital in Islamabad has allocated beds/wards for dengue patients and the occupancy of beds is less than 50pc.

This was stated during a meeting held to review the progress made to address the current dengue situation in Islamabad at the Ministry of National Health Services on Tuesday.

The meeting was chaired by Additional Secretary Nabeel Awan and attended by representatives of all stakeholders, including hospitals, National Institute of Health, Islamabad Health Regulatory Authority (IHRA), the additional deputy commissioner Islamabad and the director general (health) Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI).

The participants reviewed the dengue situation of the last 48 hours and associated issues.

They were informed that the epidemic was under control.

The additional secretary directed the authorities concerned to ensure an effective response to the disease. The participants highlighted the importance of proper data management and all cases for proper planning and response to this epidemic.

The IHRA was directed to train staff of private hospitals/labs for proper diagnosis/data entry in the dashboard.

Rawalpindi

As many as 28 dengue patients landed in three government hospitals in the garrison city on Tuesday.

Eight of the patients came from Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) areas, nine from Potohar Town, two each from city areas, Chaklala Cantonment Board (CCB) and Taxila.

According to a district administration official, from September 27 to October 5, as many as 22 teams checked 98,302 spots and found dengue larvae in 16,634 houses and 551 outdoor areas.

He said dengue larvae were found in 17 indoor sites and 120 outdoor sites in Potohar Town, 46 indoor and 129 outdoor sites in RCB areas, 60 indoor and 105 outdoor sites in city areas, 22 indoor and 45 outdoor sites in Taxila, 2,461 indoor and 12 outdoor sites in Kotli Sattian, six indoor and 55 outdoor sites in CCB, one indoor and six outdoor sites in Murree, 9,913 indoor and 47 outdoor sites in Gujar Khan, 4,108 indoor and 19 outdoor sites in Kahuta and 13 outdoor sites in Kallar Syedan.

Dr Sajjad Mehmood, District Coordinator Epidemics Prevention and Control, told Dawn that teams from the district health authority completed the spray in and around areas from where new patients had arrived in hospitals.

He said under the standard operating procedure, the dengue response teams conducted indoor surveillance in areas where dengue cases had emerged.

He said in the three government hospitals, 126 beds had been allocated for the dengue patients and at present 60 patients were admitted in Holy Family Hospital, District Headquarters Hospital and Benazir Bhutto Hospital.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2021