RAWALPINDI: Four people died of dengue at the Holy Family Hospital in two days.

Officials said three of the deceased belonged to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Kashmir.

Suleman Younus, 30, and Anwar Ali, 24, both residents of Haripur, were brought to the hospital two days ago. Younus died early Thursday while Ali on Wednesday. Muneeza Bibi from Palandari in AJK and Zubaida Bibi, 30, from Dhoke Syedan died on Wednesday.

In the meantime, 126 dengue patients arrived at the Benazir Bhutto Hospital, the HFH and the District Headquarters Hospital.

This figure made Rawalpindi as the most-affected city in the whole province. The situation forced the Punjab government to send Chief Minister’s Adviser on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique and Secretary Health Malik Jawad Rafique to the city to supervise the anti-dengue campaigns.

Govt departments alarmed as hospitals flooded with patients

A senior doctor at the HFH requesting not to be named told Dawn that Zubaida Bibi from Dhoke Syedan, who died on October 8, had come to the hospital with gynaecological complications but her dengue test report arrived after her death on October 9 (Thursday) which declared her a dengue patient.

He said the three other dengue patients had come from outside Punjab.

Commissioner Zahid Saeed said due to the arrival of patients from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Punjab government also called health officials from KP to a meeting to review the anti-dengue arrangements in Rawalpindi on Thursday.

The chief minister’s adviser said the situation in Rawalpindi was critical and all government departments should speed up their anti-dengue efforts. The citizens should keep their houses and surroundings dry and clean.

He was presiding over a meeting held at the commissioner office to review steps to control dengue.

Health Secretary Malik Jawad Rafique expressed resentment that samples of dengue patients were not being sent to Lahore for the genetic test and to ascertain the severity of the virus. However, the Rawalpindi Medical College administration informed the meeting that the HFH had requested the district health department to provide it an air-conditioned vehicle to dispatch the samples to Lahore on October 4 but received no response.

The secretary health directed the commissioner to probe the matter and submit him a report within a day about the delay in sending the samples to Lahore.

Chairman CDA Maroof Afzal said all steps were being taken to keep dengue under control in Islamabad. He said the CDA would provide every possible assistance to the Rawalpindi administration to control the disease.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2014