LAHORE: The dengue fever cases are readily increasing as 412 more people have tested positive for the virus during the last 24 hours in Punjab, taking the total number to 7,910.

Of them, 332 have been reported from the provincial capital where the total number of cases has reached 5,667 while 51 people have contracted the virus in Rawalpindi.

The medical experts say the dengue cases are increasing because of slow pace of preventive activities, particularly, in Lahore which is sharing an enormous burden of the disease.

They say the teaching hospitals in Lahore are witnessing a rush of serious patients in the high dependency units where all the beds have been occupied. The experts say around 40 per cent of the total patients brought to the hospitals had low platelets.

The health department’s data shared on Monday said 954 dengue patients were under treatment at various government hospitals in Lahore. The number of beds is being increased keeping in view the burden of the disease at hospitals.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2021