Dengue outbreak getting out of control, 116 cases reported in a day

Islamabad : The dengue fever spread is haunting population in this region of the country with much intensity, at least for the last one week and the number of patients being tested positive for the infection from the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawal­pindi has started recording a tremendous increase hinting towards a more alarming situation in the days to come.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Saturday has revealed that as many as 116 individuals have tested positive for dengue fever from Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi district in the last 24 hours which is the highest number of patients reported in a day from this region of the country this year. It is important that for the first time this year, over 100 patients have been confirmed positive for dengue fever in a day from the region.

The total number of dengue fever patients so far reported from ICT and Rawalpindi district has crossed the figure of 1,500 though the infection has so far claimed no life from the twin cities. It is alarming that as many as 63 patients have been confirmed positive for dengue fever from ICT in the last 24 hours while from Rawalpindi, another 53 patients were reported in a day.

The tremendous increase in the number of confirmed patients being reported from the twin cities can be gauged from the fact that out of a total of 1,505 patients so far registered from ICT and Rawalpindi this year, over 415 were reported in the last five days recording an average of over 80 confirmed patients per day.

To date, a total of 680 individuals have tested positive for dengue fever from ICT including 465 cases from rural areas while 215 from urban areas of the federal capital. The worst hit areas include Tarnol with 140 cases, Koral and Tarlai each with 83 cases, Alipur with 72 cases, Bara Kahu with 28 cases and Rawat and Kurri each with 14 cases.

From Rawalpindi district, a total of 825 patients have so far been tested positive of which well over 90 patients have been undergoing treatment at the three allied hospitals in Rawalpindi including Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and District Headquarters Hospital. The total number of patients undergoing treatment at the three allied hospitals was 118 on Saturday morning of which nine were in critical condition.