Fall in temperature knocks out dengue fever outbreak in ICT

Islamabad
The dengue fever outbreak in the federal capital has almost come to an end mainly because of fall in temperature as was being anticipated by health experts. However, the increased number of infected people reported this year has set a new challenge for the concerned authorities.
The data collected by ‘The News’ reveals that only a single confirmed case of dengue fever has been registered in a hospital of Islamabad during last 48 hours. In the previous week, over 50 confirmed cases of the infection reached Islamabad hospitals for treatment.
On Tuesday, not a single case of dengue fever has been confirmed in Islamabad hospitals, while on Monday, only one patient was tested positive in the federal capital, said Assistant District Health Officer at Islamabad Capital Territory Health Department Dr. Najeeb Durrani while talking to ‘The News’ on Tuesday.
He said a total of 529 confirmed cases of dengue fever have been reported in the hospitals of Islamabad this year which is alarming and has set a challenge for the concerned authorities to take preventive measures more religiously to avoid outbreak the next year.
Of 529 dengue fever cases registered in Islamabad hospitals, over 250 were residents of Islamabad. Over 160 patients were reported from ICT rural areas, 80 plus from ICT urban areas and nearly 160 were reported from Rawalpindi, where population faced a more severe outbreak of the infection.
Dr. Durrani, who is a member of The Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), has repeatedly expressed to ‘The News’ last month that the fall in temperature in the region would help control spread of the infection and the impact of fall in temperature and cold weather on dengue fever vectors, ‘aedes aegypti’ and ‘aedes albopictus’ would possibly be witnessed in the beginning of November.
"I hope that the outbreak would come to an end by the middle of November, however, the health department has to plan an effective strategy as soon as possible to avoid dengue fever outbreak in future," said Dr. Durrani.
To a query, he said, the situation in some localities, including Shakrial, Sohan and Zia Masjid area, was like that of outbreak this year and the health department would plan extensive activities in these localities in future.