ISLAMABAD The dengue fever endemic has killed at least 27 people and affected over 3,000 others across the country. According to the recent updates regarding the fast spreading dengue fever the number of infected patients is continuously raising all over the country as around 3,664 patients have been declared positive so far. According to the break-up, at least 16 people have succumbed to the dengue virus in Sindh province alone where 1875 patients have been declared positive. Over 1125 patients have been reported positive in Punjab. Around 198 positive cases haven been reported in Islamabad with two deaths so far. Rawalpindi, the adjoining city to the Capital, has 303 patients suffering from dengue fever whereas two other have dies in this regard. Azad Jammu and Kashmir has the lowest number of dengue fever patients where two persons have been reported positive and others have dies. Balochistan is the only province, which is still free from dengue fever endemic. The health authorities have failed to control the endemic as the government has so far not played its due role as far as the preventive measures like fumigation drives are concerned. According to health experts, the fumigation, which was due to be carried out in August, is being done now which is not as effective as it could have been at that time. Dengue fever is caused by the bite of a female mosquito. The mosquito transmits the disease by biting a person after biting an infected person. Dengue virus having no proper cure against it, can be avoided only by adopting precautionary measures. Most dengue infections result in relatively mild illness, but some can progress to dengue haemorrhage fever. With dengue hemorrhagic fever, the blood vessels start to leak and cause bleeding from the nose, mouth and gums. Bruising can be a sign of bleeding inside the body. The time between the bite of a mosquito carrying dengue virus and the start of symptoms averages 4 to 6 days, with a range of 3 to 14 days. An infected person cannot spread the infection to other persons but can be a source of dengue virus for mosquitoes for about 6 days, however, the mosquito that causes the disease dies as the winter approaches.