ISLAMABAD: Once again, a record number of dengue fever cases were reported in the capital on Saturday.

District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Zaeem Zia said in the last 24 hours 152 new cases emerged in Islamabad, taking tally to 1,801. On Oct 13, the capital had reported 125 cases, he added.

The DHO said 84 cases were reported from the rural areas and 68 reported from the urban areas.

He said 11 patients were admitted in Holy Family Hospital (HFH), 10 in Federal General Hospital, nine in Pims, six in Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH), 12 in the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital Rawalpindi and two in Polyclinic. The remaining patients were admitted in private hospitals.

Dr Zia said 32 cases were reported from Koral, 31 from Tarlai, eight each from Tarnol and Alipur, four from Sohan and one from Bhara Kahu. The DHO said 1,161 cases were reported from rural and 640 from urban areas.

During the last 24 hours, 130 house indoor residual spray and 304 fogging activities were conducted in the different areas to prevent the spread of the fever and eliminate the potential breeding sits of larva. Separate teams also found 942 potential breeding sites of larva and eliminated them, he added.

The teams also visited 2,135 houses in different union councils and found 12 positive with stagnant water, Dr Zia said, adding they also found 751 open containers, including 13 positive with larva. The teams destroyed 351 containers.

Rawalpindi

As many as 72 dengue patients landed in three government hospitals on Saturday which increased the tally to 1,496.

According to data issued by the Rawalpindi district administration, 149 patients were admitted in the three hospitals - 39 in the HFH, 21 in BBH and 12 in the DHQ hospital.

A senior official said 25 beds had been added in the three hospitals. Now, HFH has 175, BBH 30 and the DHQ hospital 69 beds for the dengue patients, he said.

On the other hand, Special Secretary Health Saleh Saeed visited the garrison city on Saturday and reviewed the ongoing campaigns for dengue elimination and Covid-19 vaccination.

Dr Ahsan Ghani briefed the secretary and said the District Health Authority would complete the target of vaccination in the district by October 30. He said the vaccination drive was continuing in educational institutions.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2021