RAWALPINDI: Three more dengue fever patients arrived at Holy Family Hospital (HFH), taking the total number of patients in three government hospitals to 29.

The health department, meanwhile, is still training officials for anti-dengue patrols, and has yet to begin implementing preventing measures.

The Punjab government recruited 1,067 officials for anti-dengue patrols in May, but the health department did not issue appointment letters until the second week of August, and is still training the officials.

A senior official in the health department told Dawn that the anti-dengue campaign would be launched after training was completed.

The official said that local Pakistan Muslim Leage-Nawaz (PML-N) politicians were behind the delay, due to an unofficial recruitment quota fixed by the provincial government.

The official said according to the standard operation procedure (SoP) issued by the Punjab government, the health department teams will visit those localities where residents have contracted the dengue virus, but no such visit has been conducted.

The official said that ‘fogging’ should be conducted along Leh Nullah and other creeks, but this has yet to take place.

The official said the Chaklala Cantonment Board (CCB) has conducted ‘fogging’ in areas such as Askari-10 and areas near the Leh Nullah, but said that within the city the local administration has done little.

Meanwhile, HFH Medical Superintendent Dr Arshad Ali Sabir told Dawn that 14 dengue patients had arrived in the hospital, adding that a dengue ward had been opened to accommodate the rising number of patients.

Sabir said that the peak season for the virus had begun and that the number of patients was increasing. He said measures had been adopted to keep other patients safe.

The number of patients at Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) has also increased from seven to nine.

“Most of the patients at BBH arrived from the city, and two came from the cantonment areas,” a doctor at the hospital said.

He said most patients said waterlogging in their localities had led to an increase in mosquitoes, and that the local administration had done nothing to drain the water.

He said that patients’ family members have been advised to adopt preventive measures to avoid contracting the disease.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2015

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