Dengue fever continues to haunt population

Rawalpindi : Dengue fever is continuously haunting population in this region of the country and the number of dengue fever patients being reported here at the three teaching hospitals in town and other healthcare facilities is increasing consistently while the infection claimed two more lives in last 48 hours at Benazir Bhutto Hospital.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Wednesday has revealed that the infection has so far claimed a total of 23 lives here at the allied hospitals including Holy Family Hospital, BBH and District Headquarters Hospital. Of these, as many as 14 dengue fever patients died of the infection in last two weeks creating a lot of panic among patients and attendants at the hospitals.

Within last two weeks, the number of confirmed patients of dengue fever registered here at the allied hospitals has almost doubled taking the total number of confirmed patients so far reported at the allied hospitals to 7561. The total number of cases tested positive at the three allied hospital in town was around 3900 till September 24 this year.

To date, a total of 11 confirmed patients of the infection died at BBH and 11 at HFH while the infection claimed one life at DHQ Hospital. The HFH received as many as 3,943 confirmed patients of the infection so far while a total of 2,129 patients have been tested positive at BBH. The DHQ Hospital received a total of 1,489 confirmed patients of dengue fever.

The data reveals that there has not been any check on the spread of the infection as in last two days, the allied hospitals admitted as many as 455 confirmed patients of the infection that amounts to over 227 patients a day.

It is also worth mentioning here that the allied hospitals do not admit all dengue fever patients instead only those patients are being admitted to the hospitals who have very low count of platelets or need immediate hospitalization. The allied hospitals have already overburdened by the heavy influx of dengue fever patients.

On Wednesday, as many as 811 patients including 629 confirmed patients of dengue fever were undergoing treatment at the three teaching hospitals in town while results in 134 cases were being awaited.

It is important that this region of the country including the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi is facing peak season for dengue fever transmission and the existing weather conditions are the most suitable for mosquitoes’ breeding and growth of larvae of ‘aedes aegypti’, the vector that causes dengue fever.

Health experts believe that the incidences of the infection would remain high for at least another two to three week if the existing weather pattern persists and it is high time for individuals to avoid contact with mosquitoes.