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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Another seven dengue victims
2011-10-19
[Dawn] Dengue virus claimed seven more lives, including five women, in the provincial metropolis on Monday taking the corpse count to 262.

Some 280 new cases were reported in various public and private hospitals.

Khalida, 52, of Mughalpura, and Mussarat Bano, 53, of Sanatnagar died at Services Hospital; Amna Javaid, 36, of Krishanagar, Tanveer, 25, of Mozang at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital; Shahjahan, 42, of Thokhar Niaz Beg, and Hina, 18, of Model Town at Jinnah Hospital, and Anwari Bibi, 60, of Mughalpura at Ghurki Hospital.

Out of the 280 new cases, 52 were tested positive at Mayo Hospital, 32 at the Institute of Public Health, 26 at Jinnah, 23 at Services, 19 each at General and Ganga Ram, 18 at Children Hospital and 91 at various private hospitals.

Agriculture Secretary Arif Nadeem told the media at least 208 confirmed dengue patients -- 165 in Lahore -- were reported in Punjab during the last 24 hours.

He said dengue claimed eight lives during the last 24 hours. The eighth victim belonged to Toba Tek Singh.

The secretary said the total number of dengue patients in the province rose to 17,372, including 14,955 in Lahore.

He said some 1,228 patients were under treatment in different hospitals of the province. Of them 1,043 were admitted to Lahore hospitals.
Posted by:Fred

#3  Pakistan has been hit with several years in a row of very heavy rains. But that's not the whole story.

Lahore is a large and ancient city, very near the border with India. It was the capitol of the kingdom of Punjab, and of others before that, well before the Moghuls conquered it in the early 11th century. It is strongly multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, has a lively arts community etc. Most of the books published in Pakistan are published in Lahore. It was run by the Sikhs for centuries - and their main temple complex at Amritsar is close by.

In other words, the Pure in Islamabad detest it, fear it and scorn it. They also can't do much about it, given that it is the second largest city in the country, over 12 million inhabitants by some estimates.

But they can make sure that civil infrastructure never quite gets the investment and attention it needs, surrounded as it is by multiple rivers into which flow the rains from major storms, the ice melt from the mountains etc. And that medical supplies often end up elsewhere.

That the minority groups find it hard to get any but the worst jobs or to live in cleaner neighborhoods goes without saying. So when dengue hits, that's who it hits.
Posted by: lotp   2011-10-19 11:26  

#2  Dengue is not unusual. The ineptitude and corruption of the Pak government's "public health" program is.
Posted by: Fred   2011-10-19 10:40  

#1  Is this unusual for the area? Related to the massive flooding (floods equal mosquitos equal mosquito-borne disease?) Or environmental fear of mosquito control? Or economic inability to control pests of all types? Or because Mo' didn't fight dengue, nobody should?
Posted by: Glenmore   2011-10-19 07:56  

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