RAWALPINDI: Divisional Commissioner Noorul Amin Mengal on Tuesday enforced dengue emergency plan in four districts of Rawalpindi Division - Rawalpindi, Attock, Chakwal and Jhelum - as there were chances of a dengue outbreak in many areas.

“More than 950 millimetres of rain lashed the district from June 16 to Aug 2 and the health authority found more dengue larvae and mosquitoes than last year in different areas. There are chances of an outbreak of the virus in the area,” the commissioner told Dawn.

He said that rain from June to August provided a conducive environment for the breeding of dengue mosquitoes, adding that last year, only three cases were reported till August but this year a total of 29 people have been affected by the virus.

“This shows that the number of cases may increase in the coming days,” he added.

29 people diagnosed with disease so far

Last year, till November, more than 3,500 dengue patients were reported from Rawalpindi district.

“This year, so far two areas were found to be more vulnerable including Chak Jalaldin and Kahuta,” he said.

Talking about the plan, the commissioner said all deputy and assistant commissioners of the division and officials of the health departments had been directed to upgrade the quality of surveillance for tracing the larvae.

“The administration had been asked to lodge a first information report (FIR) against owners of domestic and commercial units and seal commercial buildings and shops immediately after discovering dengue larvae.

“In the district, 660 FIRs have been launched against violators of standard operating procedures (SOPs) so far,” he said, adding that the community would be mobilised to take precautionary measures to avoid spread of the virus.

He said the health authority had been asked to involve people from the area and train them about how to keep their houses and surroundings clean. This year, a joint strategy was devised to avoid spread of dengue virus in the district with the help of the cantonment and Islamabad administrations.

“In the past, cantonment and border areas of Rawalpindi and Islamabad had been ignored and most patients landed in hospitals from these areas,” he added.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, two patients arrived in government-run hospitals. These patients came from Chaklala Cantonment and Potohar Town.

District Coordinator Epidemics Prevention and Control (DCEPC) Dr Sajjad Mehmood said 56 dengue fever suspects were brought to the district’s health facilities, adding that the district administration departments had registered 660 FIRs, sealed 272 places, issued challans to 830 people, notices to 3,930 and a fine of Rs1,835,500 was imposed on violators of SOPs in various areas of the district from Jan 1 to Aug 2.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2022