Dengue outbreak enters most intense phase

Rawalpindi : The dengue fever outbreak in this region of the country has already entered the most intense phase after the setting in of the most suitable weather conditions for transmission of the infection in the region however a consistent increase in the number of confirmed cases being reported from the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi show that the situation may get worse in the coming days.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Thursday reveals that another 186 individuals belonging to Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi district have tested positive for dengue fever in the last 24 hours taking tally to 4383. In the last10 days, as many as 1,665 patients have been reported positive for dengue fever from the region recording an average of over 166 patients per day.

It is important to mention here that the average number of dengue fever patients reported per day from the region had never crossed the figure of 100 in the history of dengue fever outbreaks in Pakistan except for once in 2019 when the outbreak set a record with well over 12,000 cases and at least 42 deaths from the twin cities in a year. The dengue fever outbreak though limited in nature was reported for the first time in 2006 in this region of the country.

In the last 24 hours, as many as 113 new patients have been confirmed positive for dengue fever in Rawalpindi district which is the highest number of dengue fever cases reported in a day from the district this year so far. The total number of patients so far reported from the district got to 2148 on Thursday of which three patients have lost their lives due to the infection.

On Thursday, the number of dengue fever patients undergoing treatment at the three teaching hospitals in town including Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital, and District Headquarters Hospital swelled to 278 of which 166 had already tested positive. The maximum capacity of managing dengue fever patients in indoor patient departments at the allied hospitals is 300 after making special arrangements.

It is worth mentioning here that during the dengue fever outbreaks reported from 2006 to 2018, almost every patient confirmed positive for dengue fever was admitted to the hospital for management while from 2019 onwards, the criterion for admission got different. Currently, a huge number of confirmed patients are being provided treatment on an outpatient department basis.

To date, a total of 2,235 patients have been confirmed positive for dengue fever from ICT of which six patients have so far died of the infection. In the last 24 hours, 73 individuals tested positive from the federal capital.