Dreaded dengue mosquitoes are back

The dengue-carrying mosquitoes have started buzzing in Karachi even before the city received heavy rainfall as the Husaini Blood Bank has confirmed 80 positive cases of dengue in the past 10 days.
The majority of these samples sent by the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) and a private hospital, according to Husaini Blood Bank’s haematologist Dr Saeed, who predicts that this year the dengue cases will be more as compared to the last year.
Bluntly rejecting Dr Saeed’s claims, however, Sindh Health Department Dengue Surveillance Cell in-charge Dr Suresh Kumar said the number given by the haematologist was incorrect.
“The official data is entirely different from theirs and I don’t accept such claims. Since April, officially 138 patients have been reported throughout the province, including patients from Tando Mohammad Khan, Hyderabad and Karachi,” he said.
“In August, 14 cases have been reported in Karachi, with 10 of them positive,” said Kumar, adding that the situation is under control and there is no need to panic.
“Last year, we were issuing report on number of dengue cases everyday but this year the number is small and we are issuing the report on weekly basis.
“How can we believe the report of any private laboratory? If they have such a high number of positive cases, why are we not getting information,” asked the Dengue Surveillance Cell in-charge.
However, Dr Saeed maintains that during the last one-and-a-half week, the laboratory has been receiving 10 to 12 blood samples from JPMC, ASH and one private hospital on daily basis and 80 percent of them are positive.
He said that there are three major types of dengue infections including dengue fever; dengue shock syndrome (in which patients are severely dehydrated and need maximum quantities of liquid); and dengue hemorrhagic fever, in which patients start bleeding and it can be fatal.
“It is better to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes, as treatment of dengue is very costly and the disease can also be fatal,” suggested Dr Saeed.
Dengue is a mosquito-borne infection. In recent decades, the disease has become a major international public health concern.