Dengue fever claimed 539 lives during 2005 to 2011

Dengue and its hemorrhage fever is one of the serious health issue of today as from 2005-2011 its confirmed cases dramatically increased to 55,946 with 539 deaths, affecting 105 out of 146 districts of Pakistan. Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial co-ordination Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani said, while addressing a consultative workshop on national case management guidelines of Dengue, National disease surveillance and response system that Dengue fever and Dengue hemorrhage fever (DHF) is considered to be one of the most fatal diseases in Pakistan, which killed hundreds of people last year.
Dengue is a re-emerging disease in more than 100 tropical and sub-tropical countries of the world with estimated caseload of 50-100 millions of dengue fever and 0.5 million of dengue hemorrhagic fever. Bijarani further said that dengue is rapidly spreading vector-borne viral disease since last decade. From 1995-2004 only 699 dengue cases were reported from three districts of Pakistan. From 2005-2011, number of confirmed cases dramatically increased to 55,946 with 539 deaths, affecting 105 out of 146 districts of the country.
Dengue related infections have gripped Pakistan with an unprecedented intensity and magnitude never encountered by Pakistan in the past. Dengue is the mosquito borne disease with far reaching implications. This disease is spread due to rapid urbanisation and likely to stay around for a long time.
Patient needs to take complete bed rest with adequate intake of fluids like milk, fruit juices and rice water etc. Body temperature should be below 39C. Too much usage of Paracetamol should be avoided. Warning signs in Dengue patient include; persistent vomiting, severe abdominal pain, restlessness, pale appearance, cold hands and feet along with bleeding. A white cell count of 5000/mm cube or a platelet count less than 100,000/mm cube may indicate that the patient is in danger of entering critical phase within next 24-48 hours.
The dengue virus is not only a problem in Pakistan but also in our neighbouring country as in India 6,259 dengue cases were reported only in Delhi during 2010. About 27,142 cases in Sri Lanka, 76 cases in Bangladesh and 57,948 cases of dengue were reported in Thailand last year. Dengue fever can be caused by any one of four types of dengue virus: DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4. Infection with one virus does not protect a person against infection with the other.