Seminar on Dengue arranged at UAF
A patient of dengue having more than 20,000 platelets with no bleeding does not need injunctions of platelets in his body. If it reduces below than 20,000, then platelets should be injected whereas the normal human body is having more than 2 lakh platelets. This was stated by speakers at an awareness Seminar on Dengue arranged by Department of Continuing Education, University of Agriculture Faisalabad at Iqbal Auditorium to educate students about precaution and symptoms of the epidemic. Dr Maqsood Ahmad from Punjab Medical College, Department of Entomology Chairman Prof Dr Anjum Sohail were key speakers on the occasion. University Community College Principal Prof Dr Khalil Ur Rehman and Department of Continuing Education Chairman Prof Dr Mahood A Randhawa also spoke on the occasion. Dr. Maqsood Ahmad said that swelling on face, hands and feet, or bleeding from any part of the body, are signs of the infection getting serious and the patient needing urgent intervention and hospitalisation. He said that the dengue infection manifested as fever with associated headache, muscle and joint pain, nausea/vomiting and rashes. Prof Dr Anjum Siohail that ideal temperature for the dengue is 15 to 22 centigrade whereas after 35C it started dying. He said if water is held in a pot for one day, dengue will not lay eggs as it likes stagnant water which is mixed with some dust participles. So after five days, the pot water carries some dust participles, attracting the mosquito because it is the diet of it. Refuting that the virus bites only at the time of dawn and sunset, he said that dengue likes darkness and it becomes active after finding suitable situation. If dengue is present in room having the few lights in daytime, the dengue will bite. He said people should take following necessary precautions to combat dengue fever before it gets in body: keep home, environment and surrounding hygiene; remove all stagnant water and containers; keep all drains well maintained and repair all chokes; avoid accumulation of ground water; fill up all defective grounds; don’t store water; avoid unnecessary irrigation; cover all containers properly and change flower vase water once a week to prevent dengue mosquito breeding there. Prof Dr Khalil Ur Rehman said that the university was committed to create the awareness about the issue. He stressed the need to wrap all unused plastic tyres; regularly change water in animal drinking containers; use mosquito repellents to avoid mosquito bite; use aerosols and mosquito coils to kill mosquitoes ; wear long sleeve and fully covered clothes and use mosquitoes net around bed while sleeping. Prof Dr Mahmood Randhawa said that the social mobioiization was the way to fight the epidemic and students should also take part in the campaign to aware the public. He said that the first case of dengue was reported in Karachi in 2004. He said that the university was working on various projects on dengue in order to end the disease.
