New dengue variant sets off alarm bells in Lahore

Dengue continues to pose threat to the health of people in the country as despite steps taken by both the federal and provincial governments to control spread of the virus, cases continue to surface in different parts of the country every day, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.   

An alarming development took place in Lahore where a member of Dengue Experts Advisory Group and head of Anesthesia Department at Jinnah Hospital Professor Ashraf Zia on Wednesday informed the residents of Lahore of the birth of D-2, a new variant of dengue, which, he said, was extremely harmful for the life of pregnant woman, the baby inside her womb and also the newborn.    

He informed that right now three children suffering from the variant were admitted at the intensive care unit of the city’s Jinnah Hospital in a critical condition. 

Head of Anesthesia Department informed that patient of the new variant suffers from high fever due to which he or she even faints. 

326 dengue cases reported from Punjab:

According to the Punjab health secretary Irshad Ahmad, as many as 326 cases of the disease were reported from different parts of Punjab during the last 24 hours. “Out of these 163 were reported from Lahore; 88 from Rawalpindi, 26 from Gujranwala, six from Kasur, five from Multan, four cases each from Narowal, Hafizabad and Okara, two cases each from Layyah, Jhang, Chiniot, Toba Tek Singh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Sahiwal, Lodhran, Khanewal and Nankana sahib, and one case each from Sialkot, Bahawalnagar, Attock, Jhelum, Rajanpur and Mandi Bahauddin,” he said, adding, “However, no loss of life was reported from anywhere in the province during the period under review.” 

The official went on to say that out of total 5,737 cases of dengue reported from across the province this year, 2,441 had been reported from Lahore alone. “So far eight people have died from the fever in Punjab; of these three people have died in Lahore, two each in Rawalpindi and Gujranwala while one in Gujrat,” he elaborated 

The health secretary informed that 933 patients of the virus were presently admitted at different hospitals of the province.  

Larvae eliminated at 2,413 sites:

Shedding light on the steps being taken by the provincial government to eliminate the larvae, he informed that the health department teams searched 416,198 indoor and 104,728 outdoor places in Punjab during the last 24 hours. “Out of these, the teams found larvae at 2,413 sites,” he disclosed. 

The official advised people to take precautionary measures against dengue just like they took against the coronavirus. “Keep your surroundings clean. Don’t let water to be accumulated so that birth of the larvae could be prevented,” he said, and appealed to religious clerics to make people aware of the hazards of the disease. 

90 dengue cases reported in Islamabad: 

On the other hand, 90 cases of dengue were reported from Islamabad during the last 24 hours. 

District Health Officer (DHO) Islamabad Dr. Zaeem Zia told media that with 90 more cases reported, the total number of cases of the virus reported from the federal capital this season had reached 2,162, while six people had died from it so far.   

Similarly, as many as 82 dengue cases were reported from the twin city of Rawalpindi during the above-mentioned period following which the number of cases reported from the city this season reached 1,964.  

Reporters: Qaiser Khokhar, Azmat Awan, Kifayat Ali Shah