Dengue fever will stage comeback: expert
Bushra Rafique

ISLAMABAD—A leading entomologist has warned of a cyclic re-appearance of dengue fever for at least the next three years in Pakistan. Dr Mohamed Mukhtar of the Directorate of Malaria Control said here that even though the number of cases had gone down because of winter, the epidemic could resurface later in the country. Ahead of the onset of winter dengue has claimed over 50 lives and afflicted at least 1,000 others who received confirmed treatment.
Mukhtar, who has researched mosquitoes for 14 years, said important principles were ignored during the fumigation process which was done in the open, though the focus should have been in houses where the female mosquito lays eggs. “The dengue mosquito is found inside homes, which were unfortunately not targeted during the fumigation drive,” he said. “Whatever exercise was carried out, it was not done on scientific lines.” Mukhtar, who was nominated for Best Young Entomologist of the Year in 2002, said the dengue mosquito started feeding from 6am to 8am and usually disappeared by 10am. “It begins to get active again around 3pm and feeds from 6pm to 10pm.”
He said this schedule was completely ignored and fumigation was done mostly at midday when there was no sign of the mosquito. He said other factors such as the direction of air and speed of the fumigation vehicle were also ignored and the fumigation staff was not properly trained. Dengue fever is a simple disease, he said, adding, about 99.7% people recover automatically and complications occur only when the nose and the mouth begin to bleed.
Found only in clean water such as water containers and underground tanks, the adult dengue mosquito disappears during the winter, he said, adding that it reappears in spring and summer.
Mukhtar said Pakistan had 132 varieties of mosquitoes with each having different breeding habits. He added that the Directorate of Malaria Control had 33mn mosquitoes collected for research from different countries. An operational research is to be started in January 2007 to see if the chemicals used for killing the mosquito that transmits Malaria was equally effective on the dengue mosquito, he said. Mukhtar said a national strategy for Dengue Virus Control has been formulated and is awaiting approval. Once cleared, it will authorise the Directorate of Malaria Control to work on dengue also.
He said other factors such as the direction of air and speed of the fumigation vehicle were also ignored and the fumigation staff was not properly trained. Dengue fever is a simple disease, he said, adding, about 99.7% people recover automatically and complications occur only when the nose and the mouth begin to bleed.