Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Dr. Faisal Sultan Friday appreciated the efforts of dengue control team in curbing the spread of the disease in the federal capital.
In a tweet, Dr Faisal said that the ministry was making sincere efforts to protect citizens from carrying dengue virus and its team’s work in that regard was appreciable.
Meanwhile, the health experts had advised the citizens to take special preventive measures to protect them from the dengue virus in wake of an increasing number of cases. They said that citizens should properly dispose of solid waste and stop water storage practices at their residences to prevent any access to egg-laying female mosquitoes. They said mosquitoes breed primarily in containers like earthenware jars, metal drums and concrete cisterns used for domestic water storage, as well as discarded plastic food containers, used automobile tyres and other items that collect rainwater. Dr Wasim Khawaja from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) said that dengue was a mosquito-borne infection, which in recent years had become a major public health concern.
He said dengue fever was a severe, flu-like illness that affects infants, young children and adults. He added the spread of dengue was attributed to expanding geographic distribution of the four dengue viruses and of their mosquito vectors, the most important of which is the predominantly urban species Aedes aegypti.
He said the rapid growth of the urban population was bringing ever greater numbers of people into contact with this vector, especially in areas that are favourable for mosquito breeding like in places where household water storage is common and where solid waste disposal services are inadequate.
