“So far, there have been no major dengue fever scares. No dengue-related casualty has been reported in the Punjab and only six cases dengue fever cases have surfaced so far,” said Health Department Vector Borne Diseases Director General Dr Jaffer Ilyas on Sunday.
He said so far, two cases from Lahore, Multan each, one from Sialkot and one from Sheikhupur had been reported in the current season while no casualty was reported. He said that there was no shortage of anti-dengue medicines.
He said insecticides were used to kill dengue larvae in stagnant water and other such places where sprays were not effective. He said insecticides had been imported from India.
He cautioned against treating dengue patients at home.
“Dengue fever is an illness than can be fatal if not treated right,” he said.
“Patients with dengue fever symptoms should immediately report to the nearest hospital where they would be treated accordingly,” he said.
He said all public sector hospitals had been stocked with anti-dengue medicine.
He said isolation wards, high dependency units and separate counters had also been set up in all public sector hospitals in the Punjab.
He said that due to excessive rains forecasted this year, the chances of dengue fever were greater compared to the previous years particularly in August, September and November. However, in six high-risk districts of the Punjab including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Multan and Shaikhupura, an anti-dengue drive was under way under the Preventive and Control Programme, he said.He said public health was a top priority of the government and negligence during the dengue fever campaigns would not be tolerated. He urged people to take precautions
Published in The Express Tribune, May 12th, 2014.