ICT hospitals receive 100 patients in two weeks

Islamabad

The public sector hospitals operating in Islamabad Capital Territory received over 100 confirmed patients of dengue fever in last two weeks that took the total number of confirmed patients of the infection so far registered at the Islamabad hospitals to 270.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Saturday has revealed that of the total 270 patients so far tested positive for dengue fever at Islamabad hospitals, as many as 145 are residents of rural areas of the federal capital including 98 from Bhara Kahu, a union council where population faced a severe outbreak of the infection.

Data also reveals that in last two weeks, as many as 26 confirmed patients of dengue fever reached Islamabad hospitals from Bhara Kahu showing that the outbreak is losing intensity in the area.

To date, a total of 68 patients have been confirmed positive at Islamabad hospitals from urban areas of the federal capital while over 55 patients of the infection reached Islamabad hospitals from other districts of the country including Rawalpindi.

According to details, Islamabad hospitals have so far confirmed 30 patients positive for dengue fever from Punjab province including 23 patients from Rawalpindi and three patients from Murree.

Islamabad hospitals received 17 confirmed patients of the infection from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the province facing the worst ever outbreak of dengue fever in its history. To date a total of seven confirmed patients of dengue fever reached Islamabad hospitals from AJ&K.

The number of confirmed patients of dengue fever being reported from the federal capital including Bhara Kahu area is on the decline for the last one week mainly because of fall in temperature in the region, said Additional District Health Officer at ICT Health Department Dr. Muhammad Najeeb Durrani while talking to ‘The News’ on Saturday.

He, however, added that to keep situation under control, fumigation and awareness drives are being run on regular basis in rural areas of the federal capital including Bhara Kahu.

The mosquitoes’ activity is getting limited particularly outside homes due to fall in temperature that weakens their joints and make them unable to get a firm grip and mount on the body of a person for sucking blood, he said.

He added that the mosquitoes including ‘aedes aegypti’, the vector that causes dengue fever would be at this point in time trying to reach comparatively warmer places that are available inside homes, particularly in bedrooms and kitchen where they can stay in corners behind the curtains or furniture to rest and bite.

Dr. Durrani said this is high time for insecticide residual spray to be carried out inside homes and to make last efforts with full force in identifying and eliminating active breeding sites and concentrating on solid waste disposal so that the adult female mosquitoes may be killed and not able to lay eggs to hatch in the next summer season.  He said vector control, solid waste disposal and public awareness are the three important steps for dengue prevention, control and mitigation and these must be given due attention by all stakeholders.