LAHORE  - One more died of dengue at Combined Military Hospital on Monday, taking the death toll in the province to three – two in Lahore and one in Rawalpindi.
Muhammad Yousaf, 68, father of an Army officer, was admitted to CMH a week ago. He breathed his last on Monday. The Punjab Health Department has not confirmed that the patient was suffering from dengue fever.
Another 45 people were tested positive for dengue, taking the number of confirmed cases in the province to 763. Out of 45 new cases, 36 were reported from Rawalpindi and nine from various hospitals in Lahore.
On the other hand, Punjab Health Secretary Hassan Iqbal directed surveillance teams to further accelerate activities as next three weeks were favourable for breeding of mosquitoes.
Chairing a meeting held at Commissioner Office for reviewing steps for countering dengue, he said that as soon as the temperature dropped, dengue mosquito would take refuge inside especially in bedrooms and storerooms. Therefore, people should remove the discarded articles and drain-out the accumulated water while indoor anti-mosquito spray should also be carried-out.
Commissioner Lahore Rashid Mahmood Langrial, DG Health Punjab Dr Zafar Ikram, DCO Javed Qazi, Additional Secretary Health (Technical) Dr Anwar Janjua, District Officers from Sheikhupura, Kasur, Nankana Sahib, DDO (Health), Assistant Commissioners, and other senior officers including PITB attended the meeting. The meeting reviewed the steps taken by various government departments.
The secretary said that incidence of breeding was still limited despite favourable conditions which was due to efforts and measures taken by the government departments. He said that workers have to go door to door for surveillance and larveciding as well as creating awareness among residents. He stressed the need of strict monitoring of surveillance teams.
Commissioner Lahore directed all officers of district government, Assistant Commissioners and Deputy District Officers to personally monitor the performance of indoor and outdoor dengue surveillance teams. He further directed to ensure holding of meetings of Town Emergency Response Committees twice a week so that dengue eradication activities could be accelerated.
He also directed the concerned officers to carry-out publicity/awareness campaign through cable network and other means for enhancing community participation in the drive.