• Health authorities accelerate efforts to prevent larvae spread
• Rawalpindi Medical University shifts all Covid-19 patients from HFH to Rawalpindi Institute of Urology to focus on dengue patients

ISLAMABAD: One more life was lost to dengue virus in the capital and 62 people were diagnosed with the disease during the last 24 hours.

District Health Officer Dr Zaeem Zia said the deceased, a resident of Alipur Farash, died at Holy Family Hospital (HFH).

Out of the total cases that surfaced on Wednesday, 51 were reported from rural areas and 11 from urban localities. As many as 24 patients were admitted to Holy Family Hospital, 23 were under treatment in Federal General Hospital, nine were in Benazir Bhutto Hospital, one in Capital Hospital while five others were admitted to different private hospitals.

Out of the 51 cases reported from rural areas, 27 came from Tarlai, 15 from Alipur, five from Tarnol, two from Sohan and one each from Koral and Rawat.

The District Health Office (DHO) is also increasing Indoor Residual Spray (IRS) and fogging in the capital to prevent spread of the disease and eliminate potential breeding sites of dengue larvae, Dr Zaeem Zia said adding that 2,824 IRS and 4,139 fogging activities were conducted in different areas.

Teams visited 2,266 houses during the last 24 hours and out of the total 26 were found with stagnant water, Dr Zia said, adding that 11 open containers were found with dengue larvae.

These containers were found in Shah Allah Ditta, Bhara Kahu, Rawat, Model Town and Sohan, the health officer said, adding that out of the total 894 containers, 258 were destroyed.

Teams also eliminated 1,043 potential breeding sites in Shah Allah Ditta, G-7, Phulgran and Pind Begwal, Bhara Kahu, Rawat and Model Town, Sihala, Koral, Sohan, Tarlai, Jhangi Syedan, Kirpa, Chirrah and Tumair.

Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner (Secretariat) Aneel Saeed conducted activities to eliminate dengue larvae from several areas.

Rawalpindi

With the sudden rise in the number of dengue patients in the garrison city, Rawalpindi Medical University (RMU) on Wednesday shifted all Covid-19 patients from Holy Family Hospital (HFH) to Rawalpindi Institute of Urology (RIU) to pay attention to dengue patients.

RMU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mohammad Umer told Dawn that the number of dengue patients increased in HFH, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and District Headquarters Hospital whereas the number of patients contracting Covid-19 was reducing.

“We decided to deal with dengue patients in HFH from Wednesday as 87 dengue patients were reported in three hospitals. We will shift Covid-19 patients from Benazir Bhutto Hospital to RIU from Thursday and increase the number of beds for dengue patients,” he said, adding the Infectious Disease Department was established in HFH under his supervision and no other hospital had such a facility across the province.

In the past 10 years, doctors and nurses in HFH, BBH and DHQ had developed expertise in dealing with dengue patients.

He said 276 dengue patients were reported in the three hospitals from Oct 1 to Oct 6 besides 1,955 suspected patients.

Furthermore, RMU in collaboration with the District Health Authority arranged a training session for medical professionals to deal with dengue patients. As many as 250 doctors and nurses attended the training session.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Umer said dengue was a curable disease and lives of people could be saved through better healthcare management. The government launched the awareness campaign in the garrison city to avoid further spread of the virus.

He said provision of the best treatment facilities for dengue patients has been ensured in all hospitals of the garrison city and hospital staff is available in special dengue wards round the clock for the treatment of dengue patients.

Special measures have been taken to cope with the challenge of dengue and besides government departments, cooperation of people of all walks of life is being ensured in promoting awareness against dengue and efforts to curb this fatal disease.

District Health Authority Chief Executive Officer Dr Faiza Kanwal informed medical professionals that the health authority was creating awareness among people about precautionary measures and checked dengue larvae in every nook and corner of the district.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2021