RAWALPINDI: At least 96 people are hospitalised in different hospitals in Rawalpindi in light of a spike in dengue cases as 36 more patients out of 169 suspected cases tested positive for the mosquito-borne disease in the garrison city on Saturday.

During the current season, 342 have contracted the disease and landed in hospitals. Out of these patients, 241 have already been treated whereas 96 dengue patients are still in the hospitals. Only one death has been reported.

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29 patients are under treatment in Holy Family Hospital, 36 in Benazir Bhutto Hospital, 15 in the District Headquarters Hospital, eight patients in Fauji Foundation Hospital, two each in Hearts International Hospital and Pims in Islamabad, while four are under treatment in private clinics.

As many as 15 patients are admitted to the tehsil headquarters hospitals in Gujar Khan, Kahuta, Kotli Sattian, and Kallar Syedan. Most dengue cases arrived from Chak Jalaldin, Gulistan Colony, Dhama Syedan, Dhoke Munshee, Kotha Kalan, Chaklala Scheme-III, Chah Sultan, Dhoke Hassu, Mangtal, Peshawar Road, Shakrial, Gangal, and areas near the old airport.

Over 90 patients under treatment in different hospitals, special ‘fogging brigade’ formed

Deputy Commissioner Dr Hassan Waqar Cheema told Dawn that all the departments had been asked to work together to eliminate the dengue virus from the district and in this regard, special teams had been formed for monitoring.

He claimed that the number of dengue patients was lesser compared to the previous year due to the efforts of the district administration. “There are two main reasons for the increase in the number of dengue patients in the last month. 13 spells of rainfall occurred in the garrison city in the monsoon season and more than 30 per cent above the normal rain occurred in Rawalpindi,” he said.

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He said that on Saturday (September 14), 36 cases were reported in Rawalpindi while on the same date in 2023, 338 cases were reported. In 2022, 534 cases were reported and in 2021, 1,052 cases were reported on the same day. He said the district health authority had already formed a fogging brigade, comprising six vehicles carrying fogging machines to spray the anti-dengue chemicals in the area where more than three patients reported in the past two or three days.

He said that the district administration had been working with the Islamabad administration to clear the border areas of Rawalpindi and Islamabad as most patients hailed from these areas. He said that civic bodies had been asked to clean graveyards, junkyards, tyre markets and public parks on a priority basis. He said that parliamentarians from the district had been monitoring the drive.

Earlier this month, the district administration set up Clinics on Wheels in dengue hotspots to check patients in remote areas and refer them to the nearest hospital. “Rapid tests will be conducted through the clinics on wheels in far-flung areas. Two clinics on wheels each have been placed in the Union Councils of Chak Jalaldin and Kotha Kalan while one extra clinic is arranged in the evening at Chak Jalaldin,” the DC had said.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2024