NIH issues advisory on infectious diseases

Islamabad: The National Institute of Health (NIH) on Tuesday issued its seasonal awareness and alert letter (SAAL) for epidemic-prone infectious diseases in Pakistan.

According to NIH, the main purpose of SAAL is to alert all relevant health authorities and professionals at all levels for timely and efficient responses to outbreaks or epidemics.

The letter has been developed for the summer and the monsoon season from June to September 2021. In this letter, NIH

exhibited patterns of high priority communicable

diseases including Hepatitis (A and E), Cholera, COVID-19, CCHF, Dengue Fever, Leishmaniasis, Malaria, Measles, Polio and XDR Typhoid.

These diseases are predicted to be on high alert during the said season. It also contains the detailed introduction of diseases, case definitions, infectious agents, modes of transmission, case management, and prevention, it added.

Through this letter, the NIH informed about national and international public health events like Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis (Naegleria fowlery) and heat stroke as national while Ebola Virus Disease may be a threat to any of the country or region in the future.

On the basis of the last five-year data, the NIH recommended for all Federal, provincial, and district health departments to keep continuous surveillance on the anticipated seasonal public health threats and taking all preventive or curative measures in this context.