Surge of dengue fever cases continues in Pakistan

Islamabad [Pakistan], September 24:Pakistan continues to face a growing momentum in the spread of dengue fever as three more people died from the disease in different parts of the country in the last 24 hours, health authorities said on Friday.
One death was reported from Hyderabad city in southern Sindh province, while the other two were from Lahore and Rawalpindi cities of eastern Punjab province, respectively.
A total of 309 new cases of dengue fever were detected in Sindh in the last 24 hours, the health department said on Friday evening. The worst-hit area was Karachi, the provincial capital, which reported 218 new cases.
The number of dengue infections in Sindh in September has risen to 4,628, bringing the local total to 7,197 this year.
Moreover, the eastern Punjab province reported 271 new cases in the last 24 hours, the provincial health authorities said on Friday morning. Punjab's Rawalpindi city reported 112 new cases, followed by its capital Lahore with 108 cases. The total number of cases in Punjab this year has gone up to 4,316.
Additionally, in the last 24 hours, 284 more people were diagnosed with the disease in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the provincial health department reported on Friday night. The number of active cases in the province now stands at 1,716 and the total number of patients this year has reached 6,153.
The country's capital Islamabad reported 85 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the city's tally this year to 1,819, the health authorities said on Friday night.
The Pakistani government has launched an anti-dengue campaign including raising public awareness in response to the alarmingly high level of cases, and has taken special measures at the dengue hotspots in order to curb the spread of the disease.
Source: Xinhua