TAXILA: Two more cases of the mosquito-borne dengue hemorrhagic fever were on Friday reported from Hassanabdal raising the number of the total confirmed patients of the current season in the city to 11.

The patients were identified by health department authorities as Rimsha Bibi, 26, a resident of Meharabad, and 22-year-old Zainul Haq of Jinnah Colony. Mr Haq is the third patient who belongs to the Jinnah Colony.

When contacted, Deputy District Officer (health) Dr Saeed Ahmed said despite all-out efforts made by the health department the number of dengue patients was increasing in the area. He said all the 11 patients contracted the disease from indoor sources. So until the citizens eliminate the domestic sources the disease cannot be eliminated. He said the health department was utilising all its available resources for the eradication of dengue in Hassanabdal. He said the healthauthority had launched a massive programme to check the spread of dengue in the city and in this connection all-out resources were being utilised to minimise the spread of the disease.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) District Health Authority Dr Javed Iqbal confirmed to Dawn that compared to previous years the number of patients had increased during the current year. He also said all-out resources were utilided to control dengue in the city. The health department teams as well lady health visitors, lady health workers and sanitary staf f were working to check further spread of the disease in the city.

He said the health department had also finalised a strategy for the next year under which proper and complete fumigation, especially in the high-risk areas, and indoor and outdoor surveillance would be carried out in the area besides recruitment of sanitary patrols. Correspondent