Via the Daily Times: Dengue claims four more lives in Lahore. Excerpt:
LAHORE: The uncontrolled dengue epidemic claimed four more lives on Friday.
A woman Uzma Tariq, 35, of Sanda, Abdur Rehman, 55, of Mozang, Zahid Bashir, 35, Kacchupura, Shaukat, 50, of Township, Yaseen, 15, of Sahiwal, Iqbal, 60, of Township and Asma, 17, of Ichra passed away in different hospitals.
The virus has so far afflicted more than 20,000 people in Punjab alone while some cases have also been reported from Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
The Health Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has released fresh figures on dengue fever in the province. The updated report issued on September 29 revealed that the overall total number of suspected cases reported so far was 377, out of which 173 were confirmed as dengue positive with only 6 deaths till date in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Likewise on September 28, 8 suspected cases were reported wherein 3 cases were confirmed while one patient was admitted and 7 patients were discharged after treatment.
Dengue has affected both rich and ordinary citizens with some senior civil and military officials also falling prey.
In Punjab 11,584 cases of dengue have been reported out of which 10,244 are in Lahore. The total number of deaths in Punjab touched 150, of which 110 deaths occurred in Lahore alone. Many patients falling sick in other cities have been shifted to Lahore because of the better treatment facilities.
Authorities in Lahore have blamed the crisis on prolonged monsoon rains and unusually high seasonal temperatures. But the people said the outbreak was an example of government inefficiency, citing failure to take preventive measures to kill off the mosquitoes and lengthy power cuts as the reason behind the epidemic.
People said that there were many factors contributing to the dengue fever.
