Staff Reporter
The provincial metropolis has reported an alarming increase in dengue cases where at least 87 people have been diagnosed with the disease during the past 24 hours. According to the health department, Lahore is the most affected City in the province.
The health department officials informed that a total of 662 cases of Dengue have been reported across the province so far in the current year.
After Lahore, most of the cases were reported in Rawalpindi, Multan, Vehari, and Muzaffargarh districts.
The officials informed that over 49 dengue patients have been admitted to various hospitals across the province and most of them are in critical condition.
On Monday, Chief Minister Usman Buzdar ordered launching a vigorous anti-dengue campaign throughout the province.
He instructed the authorities to monitor precautionary measures taken to prevent dengue, especially in public and private buildings, tyre shops, and graveyards. “People should not let water get stagnant inside and on the roofs of their houses,” CM Buzdar stressed.
According to experts, dengue does not have any specific precautionary methods, and the only way to prevent it is through the eradication of mosquitoes. The only way to stop their growing population is through a better system of cleanliness.
The World Health Organisation has identified the following as symptoms of dengue including severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pains, nausea, vomiting, swollen glands and rash that usually last between two to seven days.
There is, however, no specific treatment for dengue fever. Fever reducers and pain killers can be taken to control the symptoms of muscle aches and pains, and fever. The best options to treat these symptoms are acetaminophen or paracetamol.
Meanwhile, Postgraduate Medical Institute & Amiruddin Medical College Principal Prof Dr Sardar Muhammad Al-freed Zafar said that dengue fever and disease is not a new challenge and every citizen knows dengue as a local disease but as per medical experts due to non-implementation of the precautionary measures issued by the Government, this disease is spread on a large scale every year by the bite of dengue mosquito.
He added that in order to prevent the spread of the dengue disease, the community must fulfill its responsibilities and eliminate the “hotspots” that breed mosquitoes in and around their houses.
He expressed these views while addressing a dengue awareness seminar organized by Lahore General Hospital Medical Unit 3 under the supervision of Prof Dr Tahir Siddique to raise public awareness in which Assistant Prof Dr Muhammad Maqsood, MS General Hospital Dr Abdul Razzaq Dr Jaffar Hussain, Dr Abdul Aziz, and a large number of doctors and nurses attended.
