Izzedin Ahmad Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Efforts to combat dengue fever have led to an 80 percent drop in cases in 2012 compared to last year, Dr. Sami Badawood, Director of Health Affairs in Jeddah, told Saudi Gazette. He said the disease, which can infect people through bites from a certain species of mosquitoes, is no longer much of a threat. He praised cooperation between health authorities and the mayoralty for this achievement. Badawood said increasing awareness among citizens and expatriates on how to combat the disease was also a factor. He said health authorities in the Kingdom are monitoring the health situations in all countries where Haj pilgrims are coming from. He was speaking after reports that 155 dengue fever cases were discovered in Pakistan recently. The Kingdom is also in contact with the World Health Organization (WHO). Badawood said in case epidemic diseases appear in any country, quarantine authorities at airports, seaports or land border posts have contingency plans in place. In airports, passengers arriving from a country with any kind of epidemic disease are vaccinated. Meanwhile, Dr. Khaled Marghalani, spokesman for the Ministry of Health, said Saudi health authorities are continuously monitoring all countries, especially those in which epidemic diseases have appeared like Uganda, Nigeria, Niger and Pakistan, among others. Marghalani said the Kingdom is not panicking over reports of dengue fever appearing in Pakistan. In a related development, sources at the Makkah Mayoralty said every year following the holy month of Ramadan and before the beginning of the Haj season, teams of workers, supervisors and inspectors belonging to the Environmental Health Department in Makkah take several health measures. These include spraying insecticides and other steps to combat potentially harmful insects, especially mosquitoes. The sources said the Health Affairs departments in Makkah and Jeddah have an intensive health awareness program to eradicate mosquitoes causing dengue fever and other diseases. They also urged citizens to visit health facilities in case of the appearance of any symptoms of the disease. Campaigns against the spread of dengue fever in the Kingdom started several years ago and are ongoing. Apart from the municipalities, Health Affairs is also participating in the campaigns. The latter has set up well-equipped laboratories in Makkah and Jeddah to diagnose any cases of the disease.
