MINGORA: District Health Officer Dr Syed Ali has said that teams have been set up to closely check dengue mosquito larva across Swat.

Talking to local journalists, he said that after rise in the temperature, teams of paramedics were conducting outdoor surveillance survey while teams of Lady Health Workers (LHWs) were checking presence of larva in the houses.

“After few days of the survey, I am hopeful that dengue fever will be under control as we have found very few larva sites as compared to the previous years,” said Dr Syed Ali.

He said that owing to the efforts of health department, dengue mosquito remained under control during the last few years. The first case of dengue fever was reported in August 2013 in Swat. About 9,032 persons were infected by the fever and more than 30 of them died. In 2014, the first case of dengue fever was reported on June 3. The fever affected more than 300 persons that year without causing any death. However, the cases of dengue were reduced considerably owing to proper and effective steps taken by the district administration and health department.

Syed Mohiuddin, an official of health department, said that about 11 union councils, including all union councils of Mingora, were declared high risk areas. He said that anti-dengue campaign was underway in the district.

The official appealed to the local communities to cooperate with the health teams for elimination of dengue virus in the area. “Don’t let water store anywhere so that dengue larva may not breed there while water pots should be covered properly,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 22th, 2016