Pakistan: Dengue fever death toll reaches 160

Pakistan: Dengue fever death toll reaches 160

2011-10-06 01:47:07 GMT+7 (ICT)

LAHORE, PAKISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- Pakistan's devastating dengue fever outbreak continues to worsen with the latest death toll reaching 160, officials said on Wednesday.

The most affected area by far has been the city of Lahore, the capital of Pakistan's eastern province of Punjab, where the number of dengue fever cases has now reached nearly 12,000. The total number of cases in the province has surpassed 13,600.

Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif has continued focusing on fighting the outbreak, saying that a comprehensive policy is being implemented, the Express Tribune reported on Wednesday.

While a supervising committee has been set up under Chief Secretary Punjab Javed Mehmood to monitor the policy, Chief Minister Sharif has ordered a sharp crackdown against used and imported tire warehouses, which have been identified as breeding grounds for dengue mosquitoes.

At least seven more people died since Tuesday in the city of Lahore. Mayo Hospital recorded five deaths due to the outbreak while the Surgimed Hospital said a plastic surgeon also died. In addition, a woman succumbed to the virus at the Services Hospital.

Early last week, Sharif claimed that hospitals had been reorganized and set up to fight the epidemic while the government began preparing to distribute around 500,000 kits consisting of coils, medicines and insecticides to kill mosquitoes. But dengue fever has continued to spread.

About two weeks ago, an emergency health team from the World Health Organization (WHO) arrived in Pakistan to assess the situation and help organize a strategy to fight the epidemic. The team reached the affected regions in response to Pakistan's request for the organization's support against the health crisis.

Sri Lankan specialists had previously arrived in Pakistan to help fight the outbreak and had already informed that the virus has contaminated hospitals in Lahore, increasing the number of victims.

Despite the international community working to fight the virus as well, the outbreak continues to bring increasing fear to both residents and medical teams. Locals have constantly overflown local hospitals and clinics to get their complete blood count tests, as the virus seems to be affecting people at a constant rate. Usually, the dengue virus is most active during the initial phases of the outbreak, but the situation has not followed the typical epidemic cycle and is not weakening.

Meanwhile, following a 10-day closure of elementary schools, high schools, and colleges, time in which officials reorganized their health measures, schools across the province began reopening since last week.

At the start of the epidemic, the Punjab government was accused of criminal negligence for not being transparent about the outbreak. Advocate Noshab A Khan said that the outbreak had worsened because it had not been properly controlled during the early stages and the fumigation campaign had been of poor quality.

Dengue spreads more often after the rainy season when stagnant water on the streets may activate the breed of mosquitoes, causing dengue fever. Heavy monsoon rains in southeastern Pakistan have so far claimed the lives of some 300 people and displaced millions more.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-10-06