Dengue outbreak hits Potohar Town

Rawalpindi:The number of confirmed patients of dengue fever being reported from Rawalpindi district is on a continuous increase and the trend of incidence of the infection indicates that a dengue fever outbreak has started hitting severely the population in Potohar Town, peri-urban area in the district.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Wednesday reveals that in the last four days, as many as 139 individuals have tested positive for dengue fever from Rawalpindi district taking the total number of confirmed patients so far reported from the district to 445. Data also reveals that the majority of the patients being tested positive from the district are residents of Potohar Town. Out of 139 patients tested positive from the district in the last four days, as many as 70 have been reported from Potohar Town, 35 from cantonments boards areas and 23 from the areas falling under the jurisdiction of Municipal Corporation Rawalpindi.

The tremendous increase in the number of confirmed dengue fever cases from the district can be gauged from the fact that out of 445 patients reported this year so far, as many as 209 have been reported in the last six days at an average of around 35 cases per day. It is important to mention here that the infection is spreading fast despite the claims being made by the district health authority Rawalpindi regarding preventive and control measures. The teams of the district health department have been carrying out door-to-door surveillance campaigns for identification and elimination of larvae of ‘aedes aegypti’, the vector that causes dengue fever. The health department has also carried out fogging activities in selective union councils of the district.

The burden of dengue fever patients at the three allied hospitals in town including Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Rawal­pindi Teaching Hospital is also increasing with every passing day. As many as 72 dengue fever patients belonging to Rawalpindi district were undergoing treatment at the allied hospitals on Wednesday while the total number of dengue fever patients admitted to the allied hospitals has already crossed the figure of 160.