RAWALPINDI, Nov 18: City managers of the twin cities have devised plans to combat dengue fever which has resurfaced in Rawalpindi where so far nine cases have been reported to the two teaching hospitals.
Two cases of dengue were under treatment at the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Hospital (BBSH). In all, six patients were admitted to the BBSH and Holy Family Hospital and four of them had been discharge after recovery.
The Rawalpindi health department has carried out extensive fogging and spray in Arya Mohallah from where a dengue patient was detected.
The department focal person for dengue Dr Humayun Anwar Mir told Dawn that the cases of dengue were much low this year as compared to 211 cases in 2006. There were only seven cases of dengue last year, he said.
The health department has mapped out the entire district for fogging and spraying. According to Dr Humayun, 80 per cent of fogging has been completed in the city, while the remaining parts would be completed in next few days.
Teams have also been sent to Taxila and Wah where fogging and spraying which would be completed on Wednesday, he added.
The health department was also carrying out spraying in all the arriving and departing passenger coaches at railway stations as a precautionary measure, a step which has been lauded by Pakistan Railways, Dr Humayun added.
The health department fears that the broken water supply lines and under-construction water supply lines from where fresh water flows due to the negligence of municipal bodies could be major source of dengue mosquito breeding.
Roads in almost all parts of Rawalpindi city have been dug out under the Rawalpindi Environment Improvement Project (Reip) to lay new pipelines and replace torn-out pipelines. However, work was progressing at snail’s pace leaving much space for mosquitoes breeding.
Though the authorities have started fogging and spraying all parts of the city, the flow of fresh water from broken water supply lines may soon foil attempts of the department.
Both in the city and cantonment areas, there are uncountable numbers of broken pipelines resulting in the wastage of drinking water rather than reaching taps of consumers.
Municipal bodies of the city and cantonment were showing no interest to repair these water pipelines.
Authorities in the Cantonment areas seem to have no plan for any sort of spray and fogging. The Cantonment boards of Rawalpindi and Chaklala have not carried out sprays in any area for the last many years.
The district health department whose responsibility remains up to the city limits is prepared to carry out sprays and fogging in Cantonment areas provided its authorities share the burden, Dr Humayun said.
It is worth mentioning here that so far 37 cases of dengue fever have been confirmed in district Attock and tests for 58 more suspect patients of various affected areas of the district are under process at the National Institute of Health
The Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) health directorate has also hammered out a plan to keep the dengue fever at bay from the citizens of the federal capital
In this regard, a meeting was held here on Tuesday that was presided over by the CDA’s Director Health Services Dr Saeed Ahmed and attended by other senior officials of the directorate.
Under the plan, federal capital has been divided into 14 different zones and a special spray will be carried out in the weekly bazaars, 13 Katchi Abadis and slum areas.
In order to create awareness among the people of vulnerable areas, the authority has installed banners at different locations of the city about the dengue fever and its precautionary measures.
The CDA officials have appealed to the residents, especially those living in the slum areas, to fill up the depressed areas of the streets and their vicinities so that the rainy water that turns out breeding place for mosquitoes should not be accumulated.
They urged the people to clear the drains regularly, use mosquito net while sleeping and use anti-malaria tablets once in a week as precautionary steps.
The virus of this disease spreads by the mosquito - Aedes Aegypti - which is found in abundance in the rainy season.
The disease is characterised by high-grade fever, headache and severe pain in the joints.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says dengue is the most rapidly spreading vector borne disease. An estimated 50 million dengue infections occur annually and approximately 2.5 billion people live in dengue endemic countries.
Exacerbated by urbanisation, increasing population movement, and lifestyles that contribute to the proliferation of man-made larval habitats of the mosquito vector, the worsening epidemiological trends appear likely to continue, the WHO says.
Several factors have combined to produce epidemiological conditions that favour viral transmission by the main mosquito vector. These include rapid population growth, rural-urban migration and inadequate basic urban infrastructure like unreliable water supply leading householders to store water in containers close to homes, and increase in volume of solid waste such as discarded plastic containers and other abandoned items which provide larval habitats in urban areas