RAWALPINDI:As many as 24 more patients were infected with the fatal dengue virus in the Rawalpindi district during last 24 hours, raising the tally of confirmed cases to 389.
District Coordinator Epidemics Prevention and Control(DCEPC), Dr Sajjad Mehmood, Tuesday said that, among the new cases, 14 patients had arrived from Pothohar Town urban area, three from Rawalpindi Cantonment, two from Municipal Corporation and Chaklala Cantonment, and one from Kahutta, Murree and Islamabad.
During last 24 hours, he added that as many as 155 dengue fever suspects were brought to the district’s health facilities while the district administration departments had registered the 66 FIRs, sealed six, issued challans to 18, notices to 113 and imposed a fine of Rs 154,000 on violations of SOPs in various areas of the district.
Dr Sajjad informed that puddles of water, which get stagnant due to rain, become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and spread diseases like malaria and dengue fever.
He said a full-scale fumigation drive was underway in different district localities, mainly where dengue larvae had been found.
The health officer said that the prevailing weather was suitable for breeding dengue larvae and asked the concerned to remove stagnant water in outdoor and household settings to stop mosquitoes from breeding after rain and submerged water.
Dr Sajjad advised the residents to adopt preventive measures and inform the department immediately if dengue larvae were found in their houses, as the government alone cannot check the spread of dengue larvae.