What is dengue virus?
Dengue is an infectious disease of the tropics transmitted by striped Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and is characterized by sudden fever and causing rash and aching head and joints.
In November 2010, more than 21,204 people were reportedly infected. Those infected are mainly from Punjab, Pakistan. Patients are primarily admitted to government hospitals. For dengue patients, special wards have been arranged. The severity of the disease is felt in Lahore, the provincial metropolis of Punjab. Early reports showed that more than 170 people have died and several hundreds are admitted as new cases are confirmed.
Punjab government stated that it is working to increase public awareness on the dengue outbreak. In an awareness drive, Shahbaz Sharif himself arrived at local universities to hand out pamphlets on dengue fever and prevention. He held a telephonic seminar in Alhmara Hall in Lahore regarding the outbreak;
Recommendations
The past few years have made it clear that the “Dengue problem “is one that cannot be taken lightly, especially in Pakistan. Since prevention is considered to be better than cure, steps must be taken by the government to help strengthen our community health sector and promote awareness among the people of the country and decrease the incidence of the disease. A multi-sectorial approach should be adopted which would include collaboration with media to raise awareness, and, development authorities and health ministries to effectively eradicate breeding places and decrease the numbers of the vector mosquitos. Further research on the genetic makeup and effective anti-mosquito measures must be carried out to effectively deal with the situation. All this becomes even more necessary with a infection that has no known cure or a preventive vaccine.
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