Post-Eid risk of dengue fever spread cannot be ruled out

Over 30 cases reported in federal capital so far

Islamabad

A significant increase in number of cases of dengue fever cannot be ruled out here in this region of the country at least one week after Eidul Azha because of extensive travelling of residents from endemic areas to the region.

A good number of residents of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi left for their native towns before Eidul Azha to spend the holy festival with their relatives and they are on their way back home now. Those who are returning from dengue endemic areas may bring infection to the twin cities causing further spread of dengue fever in the region.

It is important that as per data regarding spread of dengue fever in the region in the past few years, it is evident that the dengue fever transmission gets on the rise due to large scale movement of population to and from dengue endemic areas.

Like every year on Eid holidays, a significant proportion of population have left Islamabad and Rawalpindi for their home towns with family for almost a week and while staying in areas where dengue fever outbreak is ongoing or where the dengue fever vector is in abundance; they may get a bite from an infected mosquito and return to Islamabad with virus in their blood.

The factor causes two repercussions; one is that the hospitals may receive a large number of patients while the second is that the local dengue mosquitoes of the region, aedes aegypti and aedes albopictus, may get infection after biting or feeding on these patients arriving from dengue endemic areas, thus causing further spread of the disease transmission to other people who are bitten by mosquitoes harboring virus in their bodies.

Additional District Health Officer at ICT Health Department Dr. Muhammad Najeeb Durrani when contacted by ‘The News’ on Friday said the post-Eid risk of spread of dengue fever cannot be ruled out, however, he added, the most favourable season for dengue transmission would set in after two weeks.

He added it is very important at the time to create awareness among public to take the factor as a normal epidemiological phenomenon.

To a query, he said to date over 30 confirmed cases of dengue fever have been reported from Islamabad most of which are residents of rural areas in the federal capital.

Talking of the risk of further spread of infection due to travelling of people to and from endemic areas, he said the situation is expected to appear as patients land in the hospitals after one week of Eid. He said if such situation appears, it is highly important to develop coordination between hospitals and health departments enabling the health authorities to provide immediate epidemiological response in the areas where the patients are coming from, to contain the virus and stop its transmission to other vulnerable population from bite of the infected mosquitoes.

He said during Eid holidays, two confirmed cases of dengue fever, one from Humak and the other from Tarnol were reported and the health department has carried out case response activity immediately.

He added the health department is continuously working on hospital based surveillance that is an important tool for the containment and control of the disease. Hospital Based Surveillance provides us an opportunity to take immediate control measures to check spread of the infection and mitigate its effects, said Dr. Durrani.