78 premises sealed, 62 FIRs lodged for flouting dengue SOPs

RAWALPINDI: This year, so far, a total of 78 premises have been sealed, and 62 First Information Reports (FIRs) lodged over violations of dengue Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in Rawalpindi district.   

Dr. Sajjad Mehmood, District Coordinator for Epidemics Prevention and Control, said this, adding that the District Health Authority (DHA), in collaboration with allied departments, issued tickets to 140 offenders, resulting in fines amounting to Rs269,000 for violations of dengue SOPs in 2024.

Dr. Sajjad said that four confirmed cases of dengue had been reported in the district this year, whereas the numbers stood at two each in 2022 and 2023 during the same period.

About the DHA’s surveillance efforts, the health officer said that indoor vector surveillance teams had inspected 1,286,166 houses, detecting larvae at 2,687 sites. Similarly, outdoor surveillance operations identified larvae at 658 locations out of 336,240 places inspected.

To curb larval growth, Dr. Sajjad said spray operations are going on in areas prone to mosquito breeding.