Nine more test positive for dengue in Rawalpindi

Residents urge health, cantonment officials to fumigate areas and clean the streets


Our Correspondent October 08, 2018
PHOTO: REUTERS

RAWALPINDI: The number of people diagnosed with the dengue virus soared over 160 on Sunday after nine patients at the Holy Family Hospital tested positive for the viral fever.

Owing to improper measures for tackling the virus, residents of Chawni area of Rawalpindi, including Peoples Colony, Allama Iqbal Colony adjoining areas staged a protest against the district administration.

Outbreak: Dengue threat worsens as 14 more test positive

Hospital officials say that despite the efforts made by the district administration to counter the dengue virus, incidents of infections are not slowing down. In this regard, health officials said that over the past 24 hours, as many as 13 patients had been admitted to the Holy Family Hospital with dengue fever-like symptoms. Of these, samples from nine patients had tested positive for the virus dengue fever during laboratory examinations.

These patients had been moved to the isolation ward to prevent the virus from spreading.

With the latest confirmations, the number of people testing positive for dengue in the allied hospitals of the garrison city has risen to 165 this year.

Meanwhile, residents of the eight wards of Rawalpindi’s cantonment areas including Peoples Colony, Allama Iqbal Colony say that the health department has taken insufficient and ineffective measures against dengue leading to the high incidence of the fever amongst residents.

35 cases of dengue fever reported

Locals including Muhammad Qasim, Habibullah, Muhammad Azwar, Anwarul Haq, Mohsin Ali, Muhammad Jamil and others complained that the dengue epidemic is on the rise but scant fumigation sprays have been conducted in the area.

Moreover, they complained that public representatives of the constituency — whether those in the local government or at other representative levels —were quiet on this front, ostensibly owing to a busy schedule ahead of next week’s by-elections.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 8th, 2018.

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