After other parts of the country now Punjab The epidemic of conjunctivitis has also started intensifying, due to which the provincial government has issued orders to close all public and private educational institutions from tomorrow, Thursday to Sunday.
Caretaker Chief Minister Punjab Mohsin Naqvi issued these instructions after visiting a school.
He said in a statement: ‘After visiting a school, it was found that four to five children in each class are suffering from conjunctivitis, so the Minister of Health has been instructed to close the educational institutions for four days. so that this epidemic cannot spread further and has also ordered better facilities for patients in hospitals.’
For the past one week, the conjunctivitis epidemic is continuously spreading across Punjab including Lahore.
According to Mayo Hospital Ophthalmologist Dr Sudra Latif: ‘Out of 500 OPD visits in a week, 40 to 50 patients are coming for conjunctivitis. As medical aid, preventive medicine drops are being put in their eyes and infection prevention tablets and injections are also being given.’
Due to this situation, the Punjab Health Department has decided to give vacations or change their duty to medical staff suffering from conjunctivitis.
In the notification issued by the health department, it was said that the epidemic of conjunctivitis is spreading rapidly across the province and doctors and other medical staff in hospitals are also suffering from it, so doctors and other staff suffering from this disease should be given leave or their duties should be changed.
It was further said that the authority to grant leave or change of duty will rest with the heads of medical institutions.
How many people have been affected by the epidemic in Punjab so far?
Department of Health According to the report of Punjab, 74 thousand 220 patients of conjunctivitis have been reported so far.
During the last 24 hours, 8,851 patients were reported across Punjab, of which 3,000 patients are from Lahore city alone.
In Punjab, most citizens of Bahawalpur were affected by conjunctivitis and in the last 24 hours 3 thousand 82 patients were reported here, after which the total number of conjunctivitis patients in Bahawalpur has reached 14 thousand 743.
Citizens of Faisalabad have been affected by conjunctivitis at the second place in Punjab and 662 new patients have been reported here in the last 24 hours, after which the number of patients affected by conjunctivitis has reached 8,335.
In view of this situation, the Punjab government has issued orders to keep public and private educational institutions across the province closed from Thursday to Sunday.
How to prevent conjunctivitis?
In this regard, Independent Urdu spoke to Dr. Sudra Latif, an ophthalmologist at Mayo Hospital in Lahore, who said that ‘the only solution to prevent cataracts is to be careful. Avoid touching each other or touching things.’
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Dr. Sidra Latif told Independent Urdu: ‘Cataract is a common disease that can occur at any time, but since last week, it has become an epidemic due to its continuous spread in different cities. The rush of patients has also increased in hospitals and adults and children are suffering from this disease in large numbers.
He added: ‘The only solution to prevent this epidemic is to stay away from each other and avoid frequent eye contact. This disease is spread by touching or by touching a place where germs are present, so you should avoid shaking hands or touching any place unnecessarily.
Dr. Sidra instructed that in case of conjunctivitis, no medicine should be taken without doctor’s prescription. If you feel stinging or burning in your eyes, instead of rubbing with your hands, you should splash clean water and if your eyes become red and swollen, keep a clean towel soaked in cold water on your eyes. Do not put any medicine drops in the eyes without the doctor’s recommendation and wash your hands periodically.’
On the other hand, caretaker provincial health minister Dr. Jamal Nasir told Independent Urdu that ‘cataract is not very dangerous, caution is mandatory. If the patient takes precautions and does not go out for two to three days, they will recover automatically. However, as the epidemic continues to spread, patients and other citizens need to ensure their own safety.
“First, don’t go out of the house unnecessarily and if necessary, wear dark glasses and keep things to a minimum. ‘
He further said that the supply of medicines used to prevent conjunctivitis is being ensured in all government hospitals. It is hoped that the epidemic will begin to decrease in a few days, but there is no need for the citizens to worry too much.
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