LAHORE, Sept 14: A Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital doctor says the latest scientific research shows there is no connection between intake of papaya juice or papaya leaves and cure of dengue disease or increase in platelet count.

“To curtail the outbreak the involvement of the community is as important as the efforts being made by the government,” Dr Hammad Nazir, an infectious disease expert of SKMCH said at a seminar here on Wednesday.

He said there were two aspects of prevention from this disease; first was to focus on the habitat of the mosquitoes to eliminate breeding sites to limit their growth and second to prevent mosquito bites with the use of repellents and sprays inside the houses in particular.

Dr Ashraf Ali Khan said the mortalities during the dengue fever could also be a result of some other complications prevailing in the patient. He said research on development of dengue virus vaccine was under way and it might be available by 2014.

SKMCH Chief Executive Officer Dr Faisal Sultan stressed that all preventive efforts should be based on scientifically proven methods. He said the hospital had decreased the CBC (complete blood count) test fee, which was an important diagnostic test for this disease.

He said all the collection centres of the hospital were operating round the clock to conduct the CBC test to facilitate patients.