From the World Health Organization
November 14, 2019
Over the past several months, Pakistan hospitals have faced an influx of thousands of patients admitted with headache, muscle pain and high fever, all classic symptoms of dengue, a mosquito-borne virus that has struck large numbers of people across the country. Pakistan health officials say they are battling one of the worst dengue outbreaks the country has experienced. One city hospital in Rawalpindi admitted more than 2000 dengue patients in a single weekend in October, straining emergency services, converting ordinary wards into dengue wards, and forcing staff to work overtime.
As of early November, more than 45 000 people in Pakistan have been infected with the dengue virus in 2019.
Pakistan is not the only country confronting a surge in dengue cases this year. Bangladesh also has been in the grip of its worst dengue outbreak since the country first recorded an epidemic in 2000, with more than 92 000 cases reported. Health officials in the region blame the prolonged monsoon rains, which promote ideal breeding grounds for Aedes mosquitoes that carry the dengue virus and thrive in warm, humid conditions, laying their eggs in used tires, flowerpots, tree holes and any water-filled container.