LAHORE, Nov 4: Punjab Health Minister Dr Tahir Ali Javed has said that dengue fever had been contained and only one new case had been reported during the last 48 hours. He said at the ‘First National Conference on Dengue Fever’ at the Allama Iqbal Medical College here on Saturday that 59 cases had been reported in the Punjab as against more than 2,500 in Sindh. Seven cases had been detected in Lahore and 45 in Rawalpindi. The government expected to control the disease completely in two weeks, he added.

He said every case was being investigated and he was receiving hourly reports about its incidence from all over the province. No death had been reported and 34 patients had been sent home after treatment.

Dr Tahir said dengue was an ages old virus and up to 100 million people were affected by it in the world every year. Very few of them lost their lives because the disease could be treated.

The government had decided to upgrade facilities for prevention of the disease instead of spending Rs120 million on purchase of diagnostic kits, he stated.

He said the government was upgrading 295 basic health units at a cost of Rs6.5 billion for providing advanced healthcare facilities to the rural population. The availability of doctors had been ensured at the units by giving them incentives and ensuring posting in cities after two years instead of conducting raids for checking their attendance.

He said public awareness was most important for prevention of dengue fever. The disease has been projected wrongly by the media which created unwarranted fear in the minds of public by showing doctors wearing masks and gloves. The people should be told that every person suffering from fever was not a patient of dengue.

He said the government had decided to hold a two-day conference on dengue fever and other communicable diseases at Rawalpindi from Tuesday and an international conference on communicable diseases at Islamabad in March. Experts from Europe and the US would attend the international conference.

Allama Iqbal Medical College principal Prof Sibtul Husnain said dengue fever had been first reported in 1779-80 in Asia, Africa and America simultaneously. It was reported in epidemic form in Sri Lanka, Nepal and India in 1950 and 1975. It had also been reported in Pakistan in 1994.

He said dengue fever was among the diseases caused as a result of degradation of living standards and deterioration of the quality of water supply and sewerage services due to rapid urbanisation. Mosquitoes with dengue virus bred in the urban areas because of lack of arrangements for their eradication.

Shaukat Khanum Hospital infectious diseases expert Dr Faisal Sultan said mosquitoes carrying the dengue virus lived around human habitat and bred in fresh water in artificial containers. The disease transmitted by the mosquitoes affected the white blood cells in human body. The diseases had been reported in Chhanga Manga and Chiniot in Punjab in 1968 and 1978 as well.

Services Hospital infectious diseases expert Dr Sobia Qazi said 2.5 billion people living in areas where mosquitoes were present were exposed to the risk of dengue fever. The symptoms of disease included severe muscle, abdominal and joint pain, vomiting and headache. Poor management turned it into hemorrhagic fever.

Jinnah Hospital Department of Medicine head Prof Syed Fakhar Imam said prevention was the best defence against dengue fever as there was no likelihood of availability of its vaccine during the next five to 10 years. Mosquito nets could not protect against the bite of mosquitoes but patients could be kept in the same to prevent mosquitoes from carrying the diseases from them.

Government of Punjab Entomologist Dr Salima Rana said the health department had the necessary staff for identification of mosquitoes spreading dengue fever.

The breeding of mosquitoes could be checked by insecticide spray and elimination of breeding places.

Mayo Hospital Paediatrics Department head Prof Dr Ashraf Sultan said dengue fever would cause problems in future as the second infection caused between six months to five years after the first could result in hemorrhagic fever. One third of the patients could go into shock with mortality risk. Younger patients were more prone to shock as compared to the old.

Allama Iqbal Medical College Pathology Department head Prof Dr Sabiha Hameed said public health education was most important for the prevention of the disease. The body temperature of patients should be kept below 39C and they should be administered Paracetamol not more than four times in 24 hours.

The patients should not be given Aspirin or Ibuprofen. They should also be given large amounts of fluids like milk, soups and juices along with normal diet.

Punjab Government Health Committee chairman Dr Muzaffar Sheikh said basic health units and private doctors would have to be involved in the efforts for control of dengue fever and other communicable diseases.

The government had nominated focal persons in all the public sector hospitals and made arrangements for free treatment and diagnosis.