ISLAMABAD: Dengue cases across the country are continuously going up and have crossed 20,000 mark, of which 59 people have lost their lives. Of the total cases recorded till October 20, majority 7,910 cases were recorded in Punjab, of which 412 cases were reported in the past 24 hours, as per official data collected by Business Recorder.
According to official data within the past one week the country has reported around 5,000 positive dengue cases and 19 deaths. In Punjab, 21 people have lost their lives due to dengue virus so far.
"Overall 1,651 dengue fever patients have been admitted in hospitals across Punjab," health secretary said. In Lahore, 916 patients of the mosquito-borne disease have been admitted in hospitals, the secretary said.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) has reported over 4,3,65 cases of the mosquito-borne disease and five deaths. KPK government has declared five districts of the province high risk zones including Noshera, Mardan, Peshawar, Buner, and Haripur.
So far, these districts were most affected by dengue virus and so currently, 181 patients were undergoing treatment in various hospitals of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Sindh so far has reported over 2,700 dengue infections this year, while the virus has claimed 20 lives.
In Balochistan, 1,900 cases have been recorded, while there have been no deaths. In Azad Jammu and Kashmir as well no deaths have been reported but the tally of cases in the federating unit is 1,000 to date. The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) has detected a total 2,429 dengue cases, of which 92 cases were reported in the past 24 hours.
In ICT nine people have lost their lives due to dengue fever of which one death was reported in the past 24 hours. According to health experts, dengue virus is spreading at an alarming rate in all the federating units but owing to low testing facility people are unable to visit get dengue tests from public sector hospitals, while they cannot afford private laboratory dengue test charges, which costs Rs3,600 per test.
The residents of the capital city have urged the authorities concern to establish testing laboratories at public hospitals such as the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Capital Development Authority (CDA) Hospitals, and Federal Government Employees Polyclinic hospitals.
Private hospitals are charging Rs3,600 for dengue test, while the National Institute of Health (NIH) is not performing test until recommended by a health physician.
People told this correspondent that dengue fever has spread in every locality of the capital city, while the district authorities, so far have failed to complete anti-dengue spray in most parts of the city. The health authorities have urged the citizens to take preventive measures against dengue virus, which is rapidly spreading across the country.
According to the District Health Officer (DHO) Islamabad, Dr Zaeem Zia, the dengue fever is spreading in various parts of Islamabad, wherein, so far a total 1,801 cases have been reported of which six people have died.
The DHO Islamabad has issued dengue alert, urging the people to take following preventive measures to protect themselves from dengue virus: (i) Wear long sleeves, (ii) use repellents and avoid going outside after sunset, (iii) avoid places with standing water, uncut grass and garbage piles, (iv) avoid self-medication but seek doctor's advice, and (vi) contact field monitoring teams to get dengue spray in your areas.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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