All it takes is a bite!

Five more dengue cases were confirmed in the city on Wednesday, raising the total number of patients in the province to 71.
According to the Health department, the surge in the disease was linked with the torrential rains and the accumulated water that resulted.
According to details, three cases were reported from Mayo Hospital, one from Shalamar Town while another from Hamid Latif Hospital.
The dengue patients including 22-year-old Ahmed Raza, 25-year-old Farzana and 23-year-old Junaid, 33-year-old Allahyar and 25-year-old Aroosa.
Dengue affects between 50 and 100 million people in the tropics and subtropics each year, resulting in fever, muscle and joint ache.
The disease is caused by four strains of virus that are spread by the mosquito Aedes Aegypti.
There is no vaccine, so medical authorities in high-poverty regions have been trying to stamp the disease out by focusing on mosquito control.
The illness can be fatal if the affectee contracts the hemorrhagic fever, which can lead to shock and internal bleeding.
As of November 2011, the disease had killed over 300 Pakistanis and infected over 14,000 others. The majority of the people infected were from Lahore.
However, Punjab Health Minister Khalil Tahir Sindhu said that the dengue disease was under-control in the province, and therefore, people should not worry about it.
“However, due to the spread of the virus in Sindh and Swat, we should remain alert and all government departments should continue their coordinated efforts for effective dengue control,” he added.
He was presiding over a cabinet committee meeting to review the steps being taken by various departments for controlling dengue. Besides Salman Rafique and other Provincial Assembly Members of Lahore and other cities, Government Department Secretaries and Additional Secretaries, Lahore Additional Commissioner and Punjab Information Technology Board’s Senior Officers attended the meeting. Dengue Expert Advisory Group Convenor and KEMU’s Vice Chancellor Prof Masood also attended the meeting.
Sindhu said that his department had offered its assistance to Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhawa’s Health departments regarding the eradication of dengue for which a team of clinicians and entomologists from Punjab had visited district Swat for one week where they provided training to the doctors and other staff for the treatment of dengue patients and for the control of dengue. Moreover, on the instructions of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, his department had donated two CBC machines for the blood tests of dengue patients. Besides, 200KG Temephos and 180KG Deltamathrin had also been provided for dengue sprays. Moreover, 40 drips of Dextron had also been given, he added.
Hassan Iqbal informed the meeting that he had contacted the health authorities of Sindh but the the province’s health department had postponed the visit Punjab’s health professionals to Karachi. The Health Secretary said that keeping in view the current dengue situation in other provinces, the government departments as well as people of Punjab would have to remain vigilant for dengue control.
The participants were also briefed about awareness activities like the arrangement of seminars, walks, distribution of pamphlets, inspection of graveyards, junkyards, tyre shops, nurseries, under-construction sites, building basements and industrial units for indoor and outdoor dengue surveillance. On the occasion, public representatives also put-forth various suggestions for strengthening the anti-dengue drive.
Salman Rafique stressed that apart from public sector schools, private sector schools and educational institutions should also be particularly focused for creating awareness on the matter. While appreciating the efforts for dengue eradication carried out by various departments, the Health Minister stressed on the need for the continuity and sustainability of these consolidated efforts.