HYDERABAD, Oct 25: The vice-chancellor of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS), Prof Naushad Ahmed Shaikh, said on Thursday that dengue fever had attained alarming proportions but the disease could be brought under control with concerted efforts by the medical community and general public.

He said in his presidential address at a seminar on dengue fever at the university campus that there was no specific treatment for the disease. It could be controlled only by taking precautionary measures in advance, he said.

Mr Shaikh stressed the importance of launching an awareness campaign about the disease and dispelled the generally held impression that all mosquitoes caused dengue.

A species of mosquito, which was different from common mosquitoes, lived in clean water and attacked its prey only in the morning or before sunset, causing the disease, he said.

Prof Dr Nazeer Memon, Dr Altaf Ahmed and Dr Naseem Salahuddin, Dr Shakeel Ahmed, Prof Noor Mohammad Memon and Dr Muzaffar Shaikh said that the dengue viral fever was a common infection in the South East Asian region but in recent months it had made news because of rise in number of dengue cases and its virtual incurability.

The virus transmitted through the bite of a mosquito which was different from the mosquitoes that caused malaria.

This particular mosquito lays eggs in clean water containers, house plants and wherever clean water accumulates inside or outside the house, they said.

So, the best way to eliminate this mosquito was to destroy its breading places outside and inside the house, they said.