Response committees activated as dengue claims another life

Concerns over dengue hemorrhagic fever grew further in Karachi after a young woman died of the fever at Liaquat National Hospital late on Tuesday night, health officials said, adding that the death toll from dengue has risen to 16 this year.

“Kanwal, 28, was diagnosed with dengue fever and had been undergoing treatment for the mosquito-borne illness whose condition deteriorated last night. She was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) but she could not survive,” a spokesman for the private hospital said.

With 16 deaths due to the viral illness and emergence of hundreds of dengue cases on a daily basis in Karachi, Sindh Health Secretary Saeed Awan and Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Shalwani met the district response committees led by the deputy commissioners in Karachi to pool their resources and conduct effective fumigation in the city to get rid of mosquitoes.

“Today I met with Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Shalwani and the deputy commissioners of the all six districts while officials of the Dengue Prevention and Control Program were also present. We decided to pool the resources of the health department as well as of the district response committees which are headed by the deputy commissioners to effectively deal with the threat of dengue fever in Karachi,” Health Secretary Saeed Awan said while talking to The News on Wednesday.

Dengue Prevention and Control Program officials said 119 more cases of dengue fever were reported from different public and private hospitals in Karachi on Wednesday, adding that the total number of cases had reached 4,270 in the current year.

They claimed that they were busy in larvacidal activities and fogging in different areas of the city and on Wednesday their teams visited the Block-F of the North Nazimabad where over 35 people, including madrasa students, had been affected by dengue.

“Social mobilisers also met dengue patients in the area and told them about the facilities being provided by the Sindh government as well as by dengue prevention and control program. They also guided them about staying hydrated to remain out of danger,” said Abdul Basit, an official of the dengue program, and added that awareness banners and pamphlets had also been distributed in different areas of the city.

Meanwhile, Unicef in Pakistan presented its report on the current dengue fever outbreak in the country, saying Karachi and Islamabad were the most affected cities of Pakistan where dozens of people had died due to dengue fever. It added that first dengue case was reported in Pakistan in 1994, but the first annual epidemic trend started in 2005 in Karachi.

The Unicef report said there was no specific medicine for dengue but early diagnosis and treatment could relieve symptoms and prevent complications and death.