KARACHI, July 5: Fearing the spread of dengue fever – also known as viral haemorrhagic fever in technical parlance – in the city in the coming weeks, the Karachi chapter of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has urged the government to intensify its efforts against the much-dreaded disease at all levels.
The appeal came after cases of suspected dengue fever started arriving at different hospitals following the recent rains and at least two confirmed dengue patients died at a private hospital in the last three weeks or so.
A senior doctor at the Liaquat National Hospital told Dawn on Thursday that about 30 people with suspected VHF were brought to the hospital in June and nine of them were tested positive. One of the nine patients had expired at the hospital only last week, the doctor added.
Health officials said that some more suspected VHF cases were reported at a few hospitals and clinics in the city last month.The PMA suggested launching of concerted efforts by all civic agencies and cantonment boards at the levels the federal, provincial and district governments without any delay to eliminate the species of the mosquito responsible for VHF, from all parts of Karachi.
It also laid emphasis on the need for a massive awareness campaign to be run on a regular basis, besides effective fumigation to be carried out at regular intervals. It identified the places requiring fumigation, pointing out that puddles of stagnant water on roads and streets – especially those around hospitals, schools, offices, nurseries, parks – become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
In a statement, PMA General-Secretary Dr S.M. Qaiser Sajjad said that the association had already sounded an alert following an increase in the number of dengue cases after the rains in the city.
He recalled that dengue fever had claimed 52 lives in Karachi while more than 7,000 people had reported having contracted the virus across the country last year.
The PMA also urged the government to set up quality laboratories at major public sector hospitals in Karachi where poor people could avail themselves of the facility of diagnosis of various viruses.