Dengue claims 4 more lives: Measles, rubella vaccination drive begins tomorrow

LAHORE: With four more fatalities due to the mosquito-borne dengue virus fever in Punjab in the last 24 hours, the death toll on this count reached to 90. During the last 24 hours, two more deaths were reported in Lahore and one each in Gujranwala and Attock while about 290 fresh virus cases surfaced across the province.

Of the fresh cases, 225 were reported in Lahore alone, a spokesman of Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, said, adding: "The tally of dengue cases reported in the province so far in this season has risen to 20,835 out of which Lahore has so far reported 15,380 cases of dengue fever."

A total of 1854 patients of dengue fever are being currently treated at various hospitals across the province out of which 1215 of them are under treatment in Lahore, the spokesman said.

Health professionals said that dengue, which is a mosquito-borne viral infection takes 4-10 days to affect the body. Its symptoms can be mild, similar to the common flu, or severe such as fever, headaches, pain behind the eyes and nausea. They claimed that dengue cases may decline with the start of next month. However, they called for ensuring proper cleanliness to avoid dengue.

Moreover, the Punjab health department is set to launch Measles, Rubella vaccination drive from November 15 to 27 during which 46.6 million children from 9 months to 15 years shall be vaccinated. Health experts said that Measles and Rubella can be dangerous but can be prevented through vaccination.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021