Dengue Virus Spreads More Rapidly During Rainy Season: Experts

Ummay Farwa/Yousaf Cheema

Lahore/Faisalabad: Dengue fever has now become endemic to Pakistan and transmission now occurs around the year with season peaks.
Pakistan reported 78,554 confirmed dengue cases and claimed 149 lives from January 1, 2022 to December 27, 2022, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad. The highest number was reported in Sindh with 23,191 cases, while 22,960 cases were reported in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 19,024 in Punjab, 6,534 in Balochistan, 5,401 in Islamabad, and 1,444 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The dengue mosquito has, however, been present in Pakistan for 29 years. The cases first started to peak in the country in 2009 when the virus created fear and panic among the citizens. At the time, many conspiracy theories and misinformation emerged about the virus, some stating that it was specifically sent to Pakistan by India.

Molecular biologists, on the other hand, said that there was a plethora of dengue mosquito in Pakistan.The first case of dengue virus was reported in Pakistan in 1994. Aga Khan University Hospital’s laboratory, the only laboratory with dengue testing facility at the time, tested and confirmed the presence of the virus in the country. AKUH even did a geo-sequencing of this mosquito in 1995 and it revealed that two types of dengue virus were present in Pakistan.
From 2005 to 2006, 100 cases of dengue were confirmed in Karachi. No cases were reported in other cities because of a lack of testing facilities and awareness about the virus.
In 2006, the Institute of Public Health was established in Lahore which had the testing facility for the virus. That year, it reported three deaths by the virus in the city.
Obaidullah Qazi, the lab in-charge at IPH, said that IPH conducted 5,000 tests in 2010 and over 400 results were positive. In 2011, it conducted 25,000 tests and recorded 300 deaths. Dengue virus cases are more commonly reported in Sindh and Punjab, he remarked.
He even shared that the presence of four dengue virus types were reported in Pakistan after 2011, adding that the symptoms of all four types of dengue virus are the same. The only minor difference is that Type IV is characterised by hemorrhagic fever, gradual loss of platelets and white blood cells, and thickening of the blood.Image:The Third Pole

The Punjab Health Department officials have said that the dengue virus is endemic from September to November.  An epidemic situation has not occurred yet, adding that the virus has been controlled to a large extent. The people are now more aware of the virus and over 200,000 tests have been conducted in Punjab over the last 10 years.

From 2011 to 2022, 82,415 people were diagnosed with dengue fever in Punjab, while 537 people lost their lives. The data shows that areas in Lahore most affected by dengue virus include Cantt, Model Town, Iqbal Town among others.
According to the Punjab Health Department advisory, the dengue virus spreads more rapidly during rainy season. The virus has been controlled if people continue to play their part.
Preventive measures
To stay safe from the virus, people can ensure implementation of the following measures:
•       Ensuring proper disposal of solid waste;
•       Improving water storage practices such as covering water storage units with containers;
•       Cleaning household water storage containers on a weekly basis;
•       Applying mosquito repellents while leaving the house.