Dengue Fever claims 21 lives in Punjab this year: health secretary

LAHORE: The death toll by dengue hemorrhagic fever this year in Punjab has reached to 21, citing the health secretary ARY News reported on Monday.

Secretary Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department Punjab, Imran Sikandar Baloch has said that 279 dengue fever cases reported in the province in last 24 hours. “Most of the dengue cases, 204, were reported in Lahore,” top health official said.

“Overall 1809 dengue fever patients have been admitted in hospitals across Punjab,” health secretary said.

In Lahore 854 patients of the mosquito-borne disease have been admitted in hospitals, the secretary further said.

Islamabad continues to report a spike in dengue fever cases as 141 more surfaced in the capital during the past 24 hours.

Of the new cases, 61 were reported in rural areas while 80 in urban areas, sources said, as total 2,089 people have got infected with the mosquito-borne disease in Islamabad this year.

Punjab reported 459 cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever on Sunday. Yesterday 335 dengue fever cases were detected in Lahore, 64 cases reported from Rawalpindi, eight from Attock, six from Khanewal, and five from Gujrat.

Similarly, four dengue patients were reported in Faisalabad, Muzaffargarh, Okara and Sahiwal each, three cases from Hafizabad and Sheikhupura and two from Chakwal.

Overall 6,727 confirmed cases of dengue have been reported across the province till yesterday, while 4,874 confirmed cases of dengue were reported in Lahore.