At least 223 people were infected with dengue in Punjab according to official figures on Thursday. This follows 136 people contracting the disease a day earlier.

Figures for Lahore for Thursday and a day before were 167 and 103, respectively.

This has caused great concern among people in Punjab especially on social media where they have been posting anecdotal evidence on the rising number of cases and little action from authorities to curb the spread.

Many have also shared Thursday's story in Dawn in which they wrote that "health authorities have failed to show the actual disease burden which is higher than what is being reported daily. Health practitioners in private and public-sector hospitals claim that dengue has hit Lahore hard and most cases go unreported."

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease that has rapidly spread in all regions of the world according to the World Health Organization. It is widespread throughout the tropics, with local variations in risk influenced by rainfall, temperature, relative humidity and unplanned rapid urbanization.

Punjab's health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid tweeted on Wednesday that her government was keeping a close eye on the spread of dengue but did not specify any actionable items.

An entrepreneur in Lahore tweeted on Friday about his son being hospitalized with dengue and the poor response of the authorities.

The Dawn report says the total number of the positive cases of the virus has reached 1,659 with 1,347 in Lahore alone.

On Friday, the Commissioner Lahore M Usman Younis tweeted images of government efforts to contain the spread of dengue.

At least 35 cases of the virus were reported in Rawalpindi on Thursday, according to Dawn which doubled from the previous day's reporting of 17.

ADCG of Islamabad Rana Waqas tweeted that he was imposing Sec 144 in the territory for two months "in the public interest" in a bid to contain the spread of dengue.

Many have also turned to Twitter to recall PML-N leadership's response to the dengue season each year, and how effectively they responded to trying to contain the spread.

"Thousands of health teams would go from door to door to check and destroy larvae during the previous government under the regulations formed at that time to get rid of the epidemic," a health official was quoted in the Dawn story as saying.

Shehbaz Sharif too tweeted on Tuesday expressing regret that the Punjab authorities were not handling the issue well and offered advice from his experience as chief minister.

Umar Saif, who also worked with Sharif's government, also tweeted some advice on how to use technology effectively in administrative matters.

He later tweeted his concern about the spread of dengue in the country.

There are concerns about a rise in dengue cases following the rains in Karachi and other parts of Sindh and Balochistan.