ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI, 23 October 2006 — Four people died of dengue fever in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad yesterday. Dr. Javed Chaudhry, medical superintendent at one of the leading hospitals in Islamabad, told Arab News a large number of people were suspected to have contracted the disease.
Dengue fever has so far claimed 23 lives in Pakistan. More than 1,000 people have been admitted to different hospitals across the country.
In New Delhi, with a fall in day temperature, the worst could be over as the number of patients suffering from the mosquito-borne fever continued to decline yesterday.
In the 24 hours to yesterday afternoon, 56 new patients were reported, compared to 89 in the previous 24 hours. The total number of dengue patients in the capital is 2,053 while the number of deaths increased to 44 after one more patient died. The latest victim was a resident of Najafgarh area in southwest Delhi who died due to multiple organ failure.
“It is true that there is a downward trend in dengue because of the change in weather but we have to be very careful,” said N.K. Yadav, medical officer of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
The dengue virus is spread by the bite of the female Aedes Aegypti mosquito that breeds in stagnant water - usually during the post-monsoon period as the 25-35 degree Celsius temperature is ideal for mosquito breeding. The official said the drop in day temperatures for the past couple of days had affected the breeding of the mosquito but efforts should be made to use this opportunity to end the virus menace.
“If the number of cases being reported continues to go down, we believe the virus could be controlled in another 10 days. We have to be very careful and use all our resources to further limit the spread of virus,” Yadav said.
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the country’s leading public hospital that has been receiving the largest number of patients since the first dengue cases were reported in September, also showed the declining trend and has received only 24 new cases since Saturday afternoon.
“This is a good trend, more people are leaving the hospital than coming in,” said AIIMS medical superintendent D.K. Sharma. He added that the total number of patients in the hospital was 179.
“We have decided to gradually withdraw over 100 doctors who have been deployed to look after the dengue patients,” he said. Many patients from nearby states — mostly Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan — have also been coming to Delhi hospitals for treatment.
