Over 600 tested positive for dengue fever in 48 hours

Islamabad : The dengue fever outbreak in this region of the country has got more intense as in last 48 hours, well over 600 patients have been tested positive in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi amounting to over 300 confirmed patients per day.

According to District Health Officer Islamabad Dr. Muhammad Najeeb Durrani, a total of 140 new patients have been confirmed positive from the federal capital that has taken the total number of confirmed patients so far registered with the health office Islamabad to 1,097.

He said to date, as many as 874 patients have been confirmed positive from rural areas of the capital while 145 patients have so far been confirmed positive from Islamabad rural. He added that hospitals in Islamabad have also received 78 patients from other districts including 76 patients from Rawalpindi.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Thursday has revealed that in last four days, as many as 452 patients have been tested positive in Islamabad while in last two days, the three allied hospitals in Rawalpindi have received another 371 confirmed patients of the infection.

On Thursday, as many as 62 patients have been added to the pool of admitted patients at the three teaching hospitals including Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and District Headquarters Hospital as compared to the number of admitted patients on Tuesday. A total of 604 dengue fever patients were undergoing treatment at the allied hospitals on Thursday.

To date, a total of 2,950 patients have been confirmed positive at the allied hospitals including 1,511 at HFH, 782 at BBH and 657 at DHQ Hospital while result in 194 cases are yet to be received by the hospitals.

Data reveals that the severity of dengue fever outbreak is getting more and more intense that hints the concerned authorities have failed in checking spread of the disease. Senior officials from different departments and politicians however are visiting the allied hospitals to monitor the treatment facilities in hospitals that have started facing shortage of space and human resources to accommodate patients.

On Thursday, the federal minister for railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed visited the HFH to assess the situation regarding influx of dengue fever patients.