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Thursday March 28, 2024

Peak season for transmission of dengue fever about to set in

By Muhammad Qasim
August 21, 2016

Rawalpindi

The peak season for transmission of dengue fever in this region of the country is about to set in however, a total of 41 patients have already been tested positive for dengue fever in public sector hospitals of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

The situation, according to a number of health experts, is well under control as the cases so far reported are of sporadic nature and could not be termed as outbreak of the infection.

The peak season for transmission of dengue fever in the region starts by the end of August or in the beginning of September while the maximum number of cases of the infection is reported from September to November in this region of the country.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Saturday reveals that to date, a total of 23 patients have been tested positive for dengue fever at Holy Family Hospital, 12 at Benazir Bhutto Hospital and three at District Headquarters Hospital in town. Another two patients have been tested positive at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad and one at Federal Government Services Hospital (Polyclinic).

Of the patients tested positive for the infection so far, eight are residents of rural areas in the federal capital while nearly 25 are from Rawalpindi while the rest belongs to various districts of the country or reached hospitals from abroad.

It is important to mention here that in last four weeks, not more than 10 patients have been tested positive for dengue fever in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi and keeping this in mind, the experts are terming the situation well under control.

On Saturday, the HFH tested two more patients positive for dengue fever of which one is a resident of New Katarian in Rawalpindi and the other is from Karachi. In last one week, the HFH tested a total of three patients positive for the infection while 20 were tested positive in previous three months.

Health experts believe that it is time to take preventive measures more seriously by both the concerned government departments and individuals otherwise the population in the region have to face a severe outbreak of the infection in its peak season.