Death toll from Pakistan's dengue fever outbreak surpasses 200

Death toll from Pakistan's dengue fever outbreak surpasses 200

2011-10-11 19:57:50 GMT+7 (ICT)

LAHORE, PAKISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- The death toll as a result of the devastating dengue fever outbreak in Pakistan has surpassed 200, officials said on Tuesday. Thousands more have been sickened.

The latest death was registered at Mayo Hospital in Punjab's provincial capital of Lahore, which has been the most affected area of the country. The death of a 24-year-old man brought the city's death toll to 195 and the country's death toll to 207, health officials told the Express Tribune.

Punjab recorded hundreds of new cases in the last few days, nearly all of them in Lahore. The dengue fever outbreak has now affected approximately 15,500 people in the province, of which 13,300 are in Lahore alone.

However, contrary to previous weeks, some positive developments are surrounding the outbreak. The Punjab Health Department said over 15,000 people have been discharged after treatment and, according to a report by the Express Tribune, the daily number of new cases has fallen by 24 percent during the past three weeks.

In addition, Agriculture and Health Department officials have been monitoring the mosquito population, which has now been controlled. Agriculture Secretary Arif Nadeem said that the insecticide spray campaign has had success recently while experts continue to supervise tire shops and nurseries among other spots which had been identified as breeding hot spots.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif noted, however, that the outbreak is expected to continue affecting the province until the end of November. Meetings have continuously focused on health measures that need to be taken to fight of the outbreak as town committee chairmen have already been instructed to plan strategies to prevent future outbreaks.

Emergency health teams from the World Health Organization (WHO) arrived in Pakistan last month to assess the situation and help organize a strategy to fight the epidemic. Sri Lankan specialists had previously also arrived in the country to join the efforts, finding that one of the issues was that the virus had contaminated hospitals in Lahore, increasing the number of victims.

During several weeks, the virus seemed 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 did not follow the typical epidemic cycle and was not weakening.

Dengue spreads more often after the rainy season when stagnant water on the streets usually 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.

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