Rawalpindi :A possible outbreak of dengue fever may hit population in this region of the country in the coming days as the number of cases of dengue fever is continuously on the rise in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
Data collected by ‘The News’ on Saturday has revealed that only one of the three teaching hospitals, Holy Family Hospital has tested a total of 59 patients positive for dengue fever so far this year and the number is continuously on the rise.
It is important to mention here that the Department of Infectious Diseases (DID) of Rawalpindi Medical University established at Holy Family Hospital in town has registered as many as 14 probable cases of dengue fever on Friday of which four were tested positive for the infection taking tally to 59 on Friday evening.
Till Saturday morning, the HFH has registered another 10 probable patients of dengue fever and their samples have been sent to pathology department of the hospital for confirmatory tests.
At present, a total of 16 confirmed patients of dengue fever have been undergoing treatment at the HFH while results in 10 cases are yet to be received by dengue ward, said Focal Person for Infectious Diseases at Department of Infectious Diseases at HFH Dr. Haroon while talking to ‘The News’ on Saturday.
He said six of the confirmed patients admitted at the HFH are residents of Rawalpindi while the other 10 patients belong to various districts of the country from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Kashmir.
Many health experts are of the view that the continuous rise in number of cases of dengue fever being registered here at the HFH is mainly because of a severe outbreak of dengue fever in KPK where the infection has already claimed well over 30 lives so far. They say that the dengue fever spread may take shape of an outbreak in the coming days.
When asked, Dr. Haroon said the situation at the moment is well under control. He, however, added that a possible outbreak cannot be ruled out in the region. He said at this point in time last year, till September 23, 2016 the number of confirmed cases of dengue fever was well over 180 at the HFH while this year, only 59 patients have been tested positive at the HFH so far.
The data collected by ‘The News’ however reveals that till September 20 in 2016, the three teaching hospitals in town had registered as many as 166 confirmed patients of dengue fever.
