Post-Eid risk of dengue fever spread looms large

Rawalpindi : Due to extensive travelling of residents from endemic areas to the region on the occasion of Eidul Azha, experts fear a significant increase in the number of cases of dengue fever in this region of the country at least one week after Eid.

A good number of residents of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi have left for their native towns before Eidul Azha to spend the holy festival with their relatives. Experts say that those who would be returning from dengue-endemic areas after the Eid holidays may bring infection to the twin cities causing the further spread of dengue fever in the region from where as many as 27 cases have already been confirmed positive for the disease so far.

It is important that as per data regarding the spread of dengue fever in the region in the past 14 years or so, it is evident that dengue fever transmission gets on the rise due to the large-scale movement of population to and from dengue-endemic areas, particularly in monsoon season.

Like every year on the Eid holidays, a significant proportion of the population has left Islamabad and Rawalpindi for their home towns with family for almost a week while staying in areas where the dengue fever outbreak is ongoing or where the dengue fever vector is in abundance; they may get a bite from an infected mosquito and return to Islamabad with the virus in their blood. The phenomenon causes two repercussions; one is that the hospitals may receive a greater number of patients one to two weeks after Eid and the second is that the local dengue mosquitoes, ‘aedes aegypti’ and ‘aedes albopictus’, may get an infection after biting or feeding on these patients arriving from dengue-endemic areas, thus causing the further spread of the disease transmission to other people who are bitten by mosquitoes harbouring virus in their bodies.

A top-level official at the Department of Infectious Diseases in Holy Family Hospital in town expressed to ‘The News’ that there would be much greater chances of spread of dengue fever in the region after the Eid holidays because of extensive travelling of people to endemic areas. Post-Eid risk of spread of dengue fever cannot be ruled out, particularly because the most suitable season for dengue transmission has almost set in, he said pleading anonymity.

He added that the need of the time at the moment is to create awareness among the public on how to avoid dengue fever. In case of an increase in the number of cases after Eid, it is highly important to develop strong coordination between hospitals and health departments enabling the health authorities to provide an immediate epidemiological response in the areas from where the patients are coming from, to contain the virus and stop its transmission to other vulnerable population from bite of the infected mosquitoes, he said.