Resilient: Virus claims another life in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Although cases of dengue virus cases have ebbed during recent weeks with officials claiming to have ‘controlled’ the viral infection, it claimed another life on Tuesday.

It took the toll from the virus to 66 this year.

Officials said that 60-year old Mukhtyara Bibi succumbed to the viral infection at the Khyber Teaching Hospital on Tuesday.

Mukhtyara, a resident of the Sarband area on the outskirts of the provincial capital, had been brought to the hospital on October 30 with a high fever.

She was admitted to the facility but succumbed despite treatment.

A total of 66 people have so far lost their lives to the virus since July, read an official statement issued by the Dengue Response Unit (DRU) on Tuesday. It added that 92 people were currently seeking treatment for the viral infection at health facilities in the province.

It further stated that 135 people have been discharged after recovering from the viral infection.

Health officials stated that despite having tested positive for the virus, most of the deaths were caused by different diseases and ailments including cardiac arrest, tuberculosis, pneumonia, and even Parkinson’s.  Officials added that some of the victims were drug addicts.

Recently, the KTH had shared a detailed report with the health ministry where it stated that 27 of the 46 dengue-related deaths reported had been caused by diseases other than dengue.

In fact, 19 people had died due to the viral infection.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2017.