Mosquitoes are responsible for the largest number of epidemics in the world. Each year, malaria and dengue fever cause pockets of disease that are increasingly becoming larger and harder to fight.
The Swat valley of Pakistan is not new to dengue fever epidemics, but this year it is particularly fierce. Authorities are launching a program to stall the epidemic which so far has already skyrocketed to 5000 cases and is growing exponentially. 17 people have been killed so far, and there is no sign that the epidemic will soon abate.
Dengue fever is a debilitating illness which can last for months and that racks the body with pain and fever. The health researchers in the area are seeing dengue carrying mosquito larvae everywhere, both inside and outside of dwellings and everywhere in the streets and near villages where water ponds.
The epidemic, some believe, may have started when tyres containing stagnant water were ferried from Lahore to the valley, carrying with them the infected larvae. Lahore in fact, has already experienced an epidemic in 2011 that killed 362 people, and infected more than 21,000.
The World Health Organization is organizing efforts to hamper the epidemic's progress through fumigation and awareness. Medical structures however are near collapse with the number of patients swelling each day. Medicine is scarce, and soon patients might have to be treated in the streets.
There is no cure for dengue, but rest and some medication can mitigate the symptoms and stave death.
Nine other districts are now reporting cases, signifying a quick advance of the mosquito bearing larvae.
Source : France 24/ 9.19.13
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