Karachi, Nov 08: Comprehensive public awareness campaign made by Health Department, but dozens of new cases of dengue fever have been reported in the country as seven persons have died and 29 suffering in this year whereas the number of dengue patients in 2008 was 1332.
Chairman Task Force on drugs, Dr. Saeed Elahi said that we achieve the desired results of awareness campaign and people adopted precautionary measures besides spray of their houses.
Over 500 suspected patients of dengue virus have reported in various hospitals of Karachi while the Health Department has made the dengue fully functional as yet.
The health experts have said that cases of dengue affected patients have started appearing again, majority of these patients are being treated in private clinics and hospitals and a very small number is coming to government hospitals.
Sources said that exact number of dengue cases cannot be determined, as the dengue cell is still non-functional.
According to reports during last week seven patients of dengue fever have been died in different parts of Punjab, while several new patients have been admitted in hospitals.
The health experts have advised the people not to let water stand anywhere in their houses and streets.
Dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF), a potentially lethal complication, was first recognized in the 1950s during dengue epidemics in the Philippines and Thailand.
Today DHF affects most Asian countries and has become a leading cause of hospitalization and death among children in the region.
Dengue is a mosquito-borne infection that causes a severe flu-like illness, and sometimes a potentially lethal complication called dengue haemorrhagic fever, experts said.
World Health Organisation (WHO) currently estimates there may be 50 million dengue infections worldwide every year.
Global incidence of dengue has grown dramatically in recent decades about 2.5 billion people-two fifths of the world's populations are now at risk.
Experts said that dengue is found in tropical and sub-tropical climates worldwide, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas.
Dengue haemorrhagic fever is a leading cause of serious illness and death among children.
There is no specific treatment for dengue, but appropriate medical care frequently saves the lives of patients with the more serious dengue haemorrhagic fever.
The only way to prevent dengue virus transmission is to combat the disease carrying mosquitoes.
According to Chinese medical encyclopedia the first record case of probable dengue fever from the Jin Dynasty (265–420 AD) which referred to a “water poison” associated with flying insects.
The first confirmed case report dates from 1789 and is by Benjamin Rush, who coined the term "break bone fever" because of the symptoms of myalgia and arthralgia.
Population movements during World War II spread the disease globally. A pandemic of dengue began in Southeast Asia after World War II and has spread around the globe since then.
The disease is now common in more than 100 countries. South-east Asia and the Western Pacific are the most seriously affected. Before 1970 only nine countries had experienced DHF epidemics, a number that had increased more than four-fold by 1995.
During epidemics of dengue, infection rates among those who have not been previously exposed to the virus are often 40% to 50%, but can reach 80% to 90%.
An estimated 500 000 people with DHF require hospitalization each year, a very large proportion of whom are children. About 2.5% of those affected die.
Without proper treatment, DHF fatality rates can exceed 20%. Wider access to medical care with knowledge of DHF and proper treatment can reduce death rates to less than 1% health experts quoted.
Dengue viruses are transmitted to humans through the bites of infective female Aedes mosquitoes. Mosquitoes generally acquire the virus while feeding on the blood of an infected person.
Infected humans are the main carriers and multipliers of the virus, serving as a source of the virus for uninfected mosquitoes.
The virus circulates in the blood of infected humans for two to seven days, at approximately the same time that they have a fever; Aedes mosquitoes may acquire the virus when they feed on an individual during this period.
There is no vaccine to protect against dengue. Although progress is underway, developing a vaccine against the disease.
There is a lack of laboratory animal models available to test resistant responses to potential vaccines.
WHO provides technical advice and guidance to countries and private partners to support vaccine research and evaluation.
At present, the only method of controlling or preventing dengue virus transmission is to combat the vector mosquitoes.
In Asia Aedes breeds primarily in man-made 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.
The rapid geographic spread of this species is largely attributed to the international trade in used tyres, a breeding habitat.
Regular monitoring is necessary to ensure the appropriate choice of chemicals. Active monitoring and surveillance of the natural mosquito population should accompany control efforts to determine dengue programme effectiveness.
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