ISLAMABAD: Around 400 suspected patients visit Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) and Isolation Hospital and Infectious Treatment Centre (IHITC) on a daily basis while 100 confirmed cases are currently admitted to the two medical institutions. On the other hand, Rawalpindi reported another 72 dengue cases on Tuesday.

“On an average 15 patients were being admitted to the hospital and around 10 were discharged after being treated on a daily basis,” Pims Director Dr Khalid Masood told Dawn.

He said as of Tuesday, there were 88 patients admitted to Pims and 20 more were in IHICT which was also being run by hospital.

“As the number of patients was continuously increasing, we are left with no option but to dedicate more wards to them. At present, the eye and E&T wards have been converted into dengue wards and a medical ward, which was closed for renovation, has been opened to accommodate them,” he said.

Official says Paracetamol that is used to treat patients running short; Rawalpindi sees more cases

Dr Masood said unfortunately the only treatment for a dengue patient was Paracetamol, which was short of supply.

“I fear the cases might continue to increase till the end of October. Therefore I advise people to be very careful at the time of sunrise and sunset as the dengue mosquito was most active during these hours. Moreover, people should wear full sleeve clothes and educational institutions should not hold assemblies. Besides, people should be careful while walking in the morning and evening,” he said.

Rawalpindi

The garrison city continued to report dengue cases as 72 more patients arrived at the city’s three government-run hospitals on Tuesday.

As many 249 confirmed patients were admitted to the hospitals, with 71 brought to Holy Family Hospital (HFH), 111 arrived at Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) and 67 were admitted to District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital.

Out of the total patients, 175 belonged to Rawalpindi district, 57 were from Islamabad, three from Abbottabad, two each from Attock and Chakwal while one each was from Haripur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Jhelum, Lahore, Mardan, Neelum Valley, Poonch, Sahiwal and Peshawar.

Among the new dengue patients of the garrison city, 47 were from Potohar Town, eight from Rawalpindi cantonment, six from the city areas, three from Chaklala cantonment, two from Taxila and three from Wah Cantonment.

Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) Executive Officer Imran Gulzar told Dawn that the number of dengue patients in the cantonment areas was less than other parts of the garrison city.

He said most patients in the cantonment areas were coming from areas bordering Islamabad, Potohar Town and the city areas, adding that the RCB teams had expedited the anti-dengue drive to keep people safe from the deadly virus.

He said massive fogging had been planned in the cantonment from Wednesday (today) and all 10 wards would be cleared of dengue mosquitoes.

Mr Gulzar said there was a dire need for people’s cooperation in this regard, adding that the sanitation department had been given special directives not to let water accumulate in streets and roads.

The officer said a team had been formed to monitor all dengue-related activities in the cantonment while the RCB was focusing on graveyards, junkyards and parks, with officials deployed there to clear the areas from dengue larvae.

Apart from this, he said special dengue ward had been established in the Cantonment General Hospital to provide better health facilities to the residents instead of referring them to Holy Family Hospital.

At present 45 people were admitted to the hospital, he said, adding that a special counter was set up in the hospital’s laboratory to conduct dengue tests.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2022