The allied hospitals in town registered as many as 39 suspects of dengue fever during last 10 days, taking the total number of registered cases to 130. However, none of the cases has so far been tested positive.
To date, the Holy Family Hospital received 121 suspects of dengue fever, of which 120 have been confirmed negative while one left the hospital after he was advised admission to the hospital for further investigations.
The focal person for dengue fever at allied hospitals, Dr. Javed Hayat, informed ‘The News’ that the Benazir Bhutto Hospital received a total of nine suspects of the infection so far this year, of which eight have been tested negative while the result of one case is yet to be received by the hospital. At present, two suspects of the infection are undergoing treatment at the BBH.
Dr. Javed said that if temperature falls and weather becomes cold, there would be less chances of spread of dengue fever in town. “In case, hot and humid weather persists, there would be chances of spread of dengue fever if proper preventive measures are not taken.”
Hot and humid weather is considered as favourable for growth of ‘aedes aegypti’, the mosquito that causes dengue fever.
To a query, Dr. Javed said that preventive measures are needed for at least another month to avoid dengue fever outbreak in this region of the country.
He added that last year, the allied hospitals in town continued to receive dengue fever cases till the end of October and keeping in mind the trends of previous spikes of the infection, individuals should be highly careful for at least another five weeks. “Preventive measures are needed to avoid mosquito bite and individuals should eliminate water accumulations in homes to check growth of ‘aedes aegypti’,” suggested Dr. Javed.