Dengue fever grips Pakistan; Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces worst affected

At a time Pakistan continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, parts of the country have been hit by a dengue fever outbreak. The city of Lahore is the worst affected reporting 131 cases on Saturday. Overall, the country's Punjab province reported 181 dengue cases on October 2.     

In addition to Punjab, the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also been reporting numerous cases of dengue. In Peshawar, which is the provincial capital, the infection caused by the Aedes mosquito has alerted health authorities. Meanwhile, residents have demanded the government to take adequate measures to stem the disease from spreading further.  

Seperate counters for Dengue

Addressing reporters on the crisis, Punjab Province Health Minister Yasmin Rashid said that evidence of dengue larvae were traced in as many as 71,000 households across the province. She also disclosed that government hospitals in Pakistan have set up separate counters for dengue patients. Separately, Islamabad District Health official Dr Zaeem Zia speaking to Geo News, said the recent surge in cases have increased the pressure on hospitals across the country. 

Dengue in India

Dengue fever has also impacted India. Pertaining to the same, the Delhi administration recently started '10 Hafte-10 Baje-10 Minute' campaign. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain recently spoke about the campaign for eradicating dengue cases from the national capital and said that the government appeals to the people for devoting 10 minutes at 10:00 pm every Sunday for the coming 10 weeks for inspecting their houses and cleaning stagnant water. If there is stagnant water anywhere at their house, they need to clean it to avoid the breeding of mosquitoes, he added. Jain also informed that a challan will be issued to government offices if any kind of larvae is found which can lead to mosquito breeding.

Meanwhile, Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) Director-General Balram Bhargava has attested that the Health Ministry would be conducting 'rigorous' trials for the same. Considering the sudden increase of dengue cases in India, the Health Ministry issued certain standard operating procedures (SOPs) ahead of the approaching festive season.

(With inputs from ANI, Image: ANI/Representative)