Another 132 test positive for dengue fever in 72 hours, taking tally to 727

Islamabad:Another 132 individuals have tested positive for dengue fever from the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi in the last three days taking the total number of dengue fever patients so far confirmed positive from the twin cities to 727.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Tuesday reveals that in the last 72 hours, as many as 78 new cases have been confirmed positive for dengue fever from Rawalpindi district while 54 from the federal capital. It is important that so far, the spread of dengue fever has been recorded as a little slower in Islamabad Capital Territory as compared to Rawalpindi. To date, a total of 439 confirmed dengue fever patients have been reported from Rawalpindi district while from the federal capital, the number of confirmed patients is 288 though the incidence of the infection is showing a consistent rise at least for the last two weeks or so.

According to District Health Officer ICT Dr. Muhammad Zaeem Zia, as many as 23 new dengue fever patients have been reported from ICT in the last 24 hours including 15 patients from rural areas and eight from urban areas of the federal capital. To date, a total of 195 dengue fever cases have been reported from rural areas and 93 from urban areas in Islamabad. According to the district health department, 69 per cent of the total cases so far reported from ICT are males while 31 per cent are females. It is important that almost similar is the ratio in Rawalpindi district where 71 per cent of the total patients so far tested positive for dengue fever are males and 29 per cent females.

The data also reveals that out of a total of 288 patients reported from the federal capital, 113 patients were managed at the three teaching hospitals in Rawal­pindi including Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and District Headquarters Hospital while 141 were confirmed positive by the private laboratories operating in the region. The hospitals operating in the federal capital have so far received only 34 dengue fever patients of which two were reported at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, one at Shifa International Hospital, three at Capital Hospital and 28 at Federal General Hospital.