Another 163 dengue cases

Rawalpindi : Another 163 individuals have tested positive for dengue fever from Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi district however more alarming is the fact that the number of localities being hit by the outbreak is continuously on the rise as in the last seven days, more than five confirmed dengue fever cases have been reported from 22 union councils in Rawalpindi.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Tuesday has revealed that from as many as 32 union councils of the district, more than three confirmed cases have tested positive for dengue fever in the last one week. The increase in the number of affected localities by the dengue fever outbreak may cause a massive disaster in the coming days.

According to health experts, the rapid spread of dengue fever among localities may result in a massive outbreak in the next three to four weeks. They said if the transmission of dengue fever could not be checked at the moment, there might be well over 10,000 confirmed cases of the infection from the region by the end of next month.

Of 163 dengue fever cases reported from the region in the last 24 hours, 82 have been confirmed positive from Rawalpindi district while 81 from ICT. The total number of dengue fever patients belonging to the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi has got to 4,036 on Tuesday. The infection has so far claimed a total of nine lives, three from the Rawalpindi district and six from the federal capital.

Confirmation of another 82 dengue fever cases from Rawalpindi has taken the tally to 1,964 while to date, as many as 2,072 dengue fever cases have been reported from Islamabad including 1,246 cases from rural areas and 826 from urban areas in the federal capital.

Data reveals that the three teaching hospitals in town including Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital, and District Headquarters Hospital have already started bearing the heavy burden of dengue fever patients on Tuesday, as many as 238 dengue fever patients were undergoing treatment at the three hospitals.