Dengue emergency declared amid alarming rise in cases

RAWALPINDI: Amid alarming rise in the dengue cases in Rawalpindi, the administration has declared an emergency in the district, ARY News reported.

As per details, the Deputy Commissioner stated that protective measures are being taken and emergency dengue counters have also been established across the district.

He said that mobile teams are operational to curb the dengue virus as the new variant of the virus is far more dangerous than the last one.

In the wake of increasing cases, the World Health Organization announced a global plan to battle dengue and other diseases carried by mosquitos as they spread faster and further amid climate change.

“The rapid spread of dengue and other arboviral diseases in recent years is an alarming trend that demands a coordinated response across sectors and across borders,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

The UN health agency said the number of reported dengue cases has approximately doubled each year since 2021, with over 12.3 million cases, including more than 7,900 deaths, reported in just the first eight months of 2024.

That is already almost double the 6.5 million cases reported throughout the whole of 2023.

Dengue can cause high fever and body aches, but most people have no symptoms, and the WHO estimates that there are between 100 million and 400 million infections each year.