Dengue outbreak about to fade away

Rawalpindi : The dengue fever outbreak that has hit the population severely in Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi district this year is on the verge of fading away as in the last week, as many as 78 patients have been confirmed positive from the twin cities recorded an average of 11 patients per day.

The outbreak in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi has not come to an end as yet though it has lost its intensity and the infection has not claimed any life from the region in the last three weeks.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Saturday reveals that another 10 individuals have tested positive for dengue fever from ICT and Rawalpindi district in the last 24 hours taking the total number of patients so far registered from the twin cities to 10,113 this year of which 14 patients have lost their lives due to the illness.

The outbreak in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi lost its intensity mainly because of a fall in temperature and according to health experts, the dengue fever patients reported recently from the region are those who contracted infection three to seven days back. It is assumed that the dengue fever outbreak would be completely faded away after the first week of December however, health experts suggest that people would have to work hard for checking to breed of dengue fever vectors, mosquito ‘aedes aegypti’ inside homes to avoid outbreaks in the next year.

It is important that only four new patients have been confirmed positive from the Rawalpindi district in the last 24 hours taking the tally to 4,739 of which three patients have lost their lives due to the infection.

The number of admitted dengue fever patients to the three allied hospitals in Rawalpindi including Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital, and District Headquarters Hospital has also been on the decline. On Saturday, there were 26 patients undergoing treatment at the allied hospitals. It is worth mentioning that the number of admitted patients was well over 200 in the last month.

On the other hand, as many as six patients have tested positive from the federal capital in the last 24 hours which has taken the total number of confirmed patients so far registered with the District Health Office Islamabad to 5,374. It is important that the number of deaths due to dengue fever this year from Islamabad is 11.