ISLAMABAD: Seventy-eight cases of dengue fever were reported in the capital on Monday.

District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Zaeem Zia said out of the total, 46 cases were reported from rural and 32 from urban areas of the capital.

He said 21 of the patients were admitted in Holy Family Hospital, four in Capital Hospital and 53 in private hospitals. He said 23 cases were reported from Tarlai, 14 from Koral, five from Tarnol, two from Rawat and one each from Sohan and Sihala.

With these, the tally of dengue cases in the capital reached 1,229. The DHO said 817 cases were reported from rural and 412 from urban areas.

181 sites sealed in Rawalpindi for violating SOPs against spread of dengue mosquitoes

During the last 24 hours, 100 house indoor residual spray and 324 fogging activities were conducted to prevent the spread of dengue and eliminate the potential breeding sites of larva, he said, adding separate teams eliminated 65 potential sites of larva at different localities.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Islamabad (East) Babar Sahibdin said the capital administrating had launched a drive to prevent the spread of the virus and eliminate the larva breeding sites. Separate teams have been constituted to inspect the areas.

During the last 24 hours, 11 people were arrested over violation of the ban imposed on different activities.

Moreover, Assistant Commissioner Secretariat Aneel Saeed visited several areas to check the violation of the ban.

Besides fogging/fumigation, anti-dengue activities were also conducted in the area.

APP adds: Various departments of the Rawalpindi district government have sealed 181 sites, issued notices to 963 owners, registered FIRs against 122 violators and imposed a fine of Rs730,000 on violators of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for dengue mosquitoes under its ongoing campaign.

The District Health Authority sealed 100 sites, issued notices to 594 owners, booked 322 and registered FIRs against 99 violators while the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board, during inspection of dengue breeding sites, sealed 35 premises, issued notices to 175 owners, registered FIRs against 23 violators and imposed fine amounting to Rs550,000 on SOPs’ violators.

Similarly, the Chaklala Cantonment Board sealed 17 sites, issued notices to 144 owners and imposed a fine of Rs180,000 on people for violations.

Meanwhile, the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) also issued notices to 50 owners and sealed eight sites for violating dengue SOPs. In the same way, the Metropolitan Corporation Rawalpindi teams sealed 17 while the tehsil administration shut down four sites during inspection in their respective areas.

Taxila

As many as 21 confirmed dengue patients were reported in Taxila and Wah Cantt.

According to the health department, 14 patients emerged in Wah while seven were reported from Taxila tehsil.

According to officials, at present, no dengue positive patient has come from the urban parts of the city.

The official sources said three new dengue patients were reported in the last 24 hours, raising the tally of confirmed cases to 21 in Taxila.

Though the number of dengue cases is increasing with each passing day, the civic authorities have still not launched a fumigation drive in various localities.

The district administration has directed anti-dengue surveillance teams to increase inspection at tyre shops, junkyards and under-construction buildings to eliminate the dengue larvae but only cosmetic steps have been taken under which fines have been imposed on some shopkeepers.

According to health experts, lack of anti-dengue spray in residential as well as commercial areas posed health hazards to residents of Lalazar, Lalarukh, Muneerabad, Gulshan Colony, Gulistan Colony, Chairman Colony, Shahwali Colony, Nawababad, Malikabad, Gadwal, Gulberg and Ismailabad.

On the other hand, vice chairman of an NGO, Malik Aftab Hussain, said: “No anti-dengue measures, including fogging, were taken during the breeding season even in high-risk areas.”

Similarly, Malik Saeed Siddiqui, a social worker, said contrary to the past, no anti-dengue awareness drive or fogging was conducted.

Meanwhile, Tehsil Health Inspector Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed said soon after confirmation of dengue patients, teams visited their houses and nearby areas and took precautionary measures, including carrying out fogging and indoor residual spraying as per protocol.

Responding a question, he said confirmed and suspected patients were referred to public sector hospitals in Rawalpindi for proper treatment.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Academy of Family Physicians (PAFP) local chapter organised a dengue screening camp in Lalazar Wah Cantonment in collaboration with the Capital Diagnostic Centre (CDC) and Tehsil Health Administration.— Additional reporting by Amjad Iqbal

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2021