RAWALPINDI: Fewer dengue cases were reported in the district this year, the district administration said on Tuesday.

The administration’s statement claimed that due to its efforts, along with the efforts of the health department and other concerned departments, have been productive and the dengue situation in Rawalpindi is under control.

There were 80 to 90 reported dengue-effected patients every day during the dengue season last year, which have been reduced to four to five per day.

There are currently 35 dengue patients from the Rawalpindi district undergoing treatment, and there have not been any fatalities so far.

District admin claims reduction in dengue cases due to effective anti-dengue measures

Acting Rawalpindi Commissioner Talat Mehmood Gondal said efforts to eradicate dengue in Rawalpindi were going on successfully, as the number of cases has fallen from 3,303 patients in 2015 to 1,106 in 2016.

In comparison to these two years, there have been 191 patients so far in 2017, he said, attributing the result to pre-planning, prevention activities and dengue surveillance in the off-season.

Mr Gondal added that the corresponding number of dengue patients in the city last year was 20, while there have been, on average, five patients a day this year.

“Not more than 10 patients maximum were reported during 2017 in contrary to the last years’ 32 or more patients a day,” he said.

He said effective measures were taken against dengue virus at the border between the twin cities, which yielded positive outcomes by sparing almost 400 people in these territories as no cases have been accounted for from these areas so far.

He said that there have been 305 confirmed cases reported in the allied hospitals of Rawalpindi, of which 152 belong to the Rawalpindi district.

He compared the situation to last year, saying that in October 2016 305 patients were in treatment, whereas today there are 35 patients in treatment. He said the rest were discharged after being treated, and not a single fatality has occurred in Rawalpindi due to dengue this year.

He said 15,222 houses were sprayed this month, while 4,433 fogging activities were carried out. Overall, 161 FIRs have been registered for failure to follow standards operating procedures (SOP) for dengue, 237 premises were sealed upon the detection of dengue larvae, and Rs968,000 worth of fines have been imposed.

Mr Gondal claimed that some of the facts and figures regarding the number of dengue patients were deceptive, as dengue is under control in Rawalpindi. He said hospitals are well-equipped to cope and treat dengue patients, and three to four patients are being provided medical facilities every day.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2017