No case of dengue fever reported so far

RAWALPINDI: No confirmed case of dengue fever has so far been reported from Rawalpindi district this season though the teams of district health department working in the field have been finding larvae of dengue fever vector, mosquito ‘aedes aegypti’ in scattered localities of Rawal Town, Pothohar Town and areas falling under jurisdiction of cantonment boar

The only confirmed case of dengue fever reported from town that appeared in February this year was of sporadic nature and after that no case of the infection has been reported from the district.

According to health experts, however, the population in the district would be at the greatest risk of facing a possible outbreak of dengue fever in coming weeks as the peak season for transmission of dengue fever in this region of the country is about to set in.

It is worth mentioning here that every year; the first cases of dengue fever in the region appear by the end of July or in the middle of August. Generally before August, only sporadic cases of the infection are reported from the region and these do not cross the number of 10. The peak season for transmission of the infection starts in August.

Usually, ‘aedes aegypti’, the mosquito that causes dengue fever lay the first eggs of the year at the beginning of May and the mosquito density is maximal in early July, late August and early September while the egg laying activity remains intact until November though the larval density reaches to its peak in September.

So far, the situation regarding dengue fever spread is well under control as in 2016, nearly 30 confirmed cases of dengue fever were reported before the middle of July while this year, not a single case has been reported from the district in last four-and-a-half months, said Executive District Officer (Health) Dr. Fayyaz Butt while talking to ‘The News’ on Sunday.

He said the teams of district health department have been finding larvae of dengue fever vector from scattered areas of town. The mosquitoes ‘aedes aegypti’ might not be eliminated completely from the environment however, if there is no case of the infection, the situation would remain under control, he said.

He added that over 1500 persons have been carrying out indoor and outdoor activities in the field to avoid dengue fever outbreak in the district. Over 600 teams of the health department have been working for larvae identification and elimination along with carrying out surveillance activities against dengue fever to avoid a possible outbreak of the infection, said Dr. Fayyaz.

He added the teams have been visiting door-to-door on regular basis particularly in high risk areas for larvae identification and elimination while awareness campaign has already been run to educate masses on how to avoid breeding of larvae of dengue fever vector inside houses.

The teams of health department have already listed hotspots and possible breeding sites for mosquitoes in town and all these points are being visited by the teams on regular basis for larvae elimination, the EDO said.