Another death due to dengue takes toll to nine in Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi : The district health authority Rawalpindi has confirmed the death of another patient due to dengue fever that has taken the total number of deaths so far caused by the infection from the district to nine.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Saturday has revealed that a 50-year old male patient, Haseeb Iqbal, who was a resident of a locality near Graveyard Dhoke Mustaqeem, has lost his life due to dengue fever. The patient was undergoing treatment at Holy Family Hospital in town.

Meanwhile, the data reveals that the dengue fever outbreak that is hitting the population hard in Potohar Town, Potohar Rural, and areas falling under the jurisdiction of Municipal Corporation Rawalpindi along with Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonment boards in the district is gaining severity once again.

In the last 24 hours, as many as 125 individuals have tested positive for dengue fever from Rawalpindi taking the total number of patients so far confirmed positive from the district to 4080. Of 125 cases, 68 have been reported from Potohar Town (Peri-urban areas), 22 from Chaklala and Rawalpindi cantonment boards areas and 13 from areas falling under the jurisdiction of Municipal Corporation Rawalpindi. Another 10 patients have been confirmed positive from Potohar Rural, from areas including Takht Pari, Adyala, Bandar, Baga Sheikhan and Chakri, in the last 24 hours.

Data collected by ‘The News’ has revealed that as many as 260 confirmed dengue fever patients were undergoing treatment at the teaching hospitals in Rawalpindi including 81 patients at Benazir Bhutto Hospital, 61 at Rawalpindi Teaching Hospital, 41 at Fauji Foundation Hospital and 26 at Holy Family Hospital on Saturday.

APP adds: Meanwhile, Self-medication, delayed reporting termed core reasons behind dengue fatalities

Rawalpindi

Secretary Auqaf and Religious Affairs, Tahir Raza Bukhari has termed habitually self-medication and delayed reporting to hospitals were the core reasons of dengue’s fatal attacks.

He urged the Auqaf department to continuously cognize the people about dengue SOPs at large and through the Friday sermon in particular.

He remarked this while chairing an Anti-Dengue meeting, which was held at the Commissioner Office.

According to the details, the Secretary Auqaf, Tahir Raza Bukhari reviewed the dengue situation in Rawalpindi with corresponding anti-dengue efforts by the religious scholars and Ulemas.

During the meeting, a briefing on the latest dengue situation was given by the health department, in which it was informed that 108 confirmed patients have been reported in Rawalpindi district on Thursday.

The number of confirmed patients so far this year has reached 3840. It was apprised that 3482 patients have been discharged from the allied hospitals after successful treatment while 341 were under treatment in different hospitals.

The participants of the meeting were informed that the hospitals have a capacity of 600 beds for dengue patients which can be taken up to 1000 beds in the ramp-up plan. -- APP