Dengue fever cases continue to rise in Pakistan

Dengue fever cases continue to rise in Pakistan
September 20, 2022, 6:46 am

Dengue (DENG-gey) fever is a mosquito-borne illness that occurs in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Mild dengue fever causes a high fever and flu-like symptoms - Photo. Pixabay

Pakistani health authorities said on Monday (Sep 19), the dengue fever cases in the country continue to increase as a significant number of patients were reported in parts of the country during the last 24 hours, the Xinhua reported.

One person died and a total of 276 patients were diagnosed with the disease in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province in the last 24 hours, the provincial health department reported on Monday night. The number of active cases in KP is 1,610 and the total number of cases this year has reached 4,980.

Moreover, 152 new cases of dengue were reported in eastern Punjab province in the last 24 hours, the provincial health department said on Monday (Sep 19).

Punjab's Rawalpindi city reported 71 patients while 47 people were diagnosed in its capital Lahore.

The total number of patients in Punjab throughout the year has moved up to 3,437.

The Pakistani government has launched an anti-dengue campaign including raising public awareness in response to the alarmingly high level of cases in the country, and has taken special measures at the dengue hotspots in order to curb the spread of the disease.

Dengue viruses are spread to people through the bite of an infected Aedes species (Ae. aegypti or Ae. albopictus) mosquito. These mosquitoes also spread Zika, chikungunya, and other viruses, according to the CDC.

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Almost half of the world’s population, about 4 billion people, live in areas with a risk of dengue. Dengue is often a leading cause of illness in areas with risk.

Each year, up to 400 million people get infected with dengue. Approximately 100 million people get sick from infection, and 40,000 die from severe dengue.

Dengue is caused by one of any of four related viruses: Dengue virus 1, 2, 3, and 4. For this reason, a person can be infected with a dengue virus as many as four times in his or her lifetime.

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