Four test positive for dengue in Peshawar

Officials say one patient was tested in the hospital while the rest found in his native village

PESHAWAR: Even though there have been few showers in Peshawar with the mercury hovering around 40 degrees Celsius, as many as four people have so far tested positive for the dengue virus.

As a result, the district health office and the district public health department have recommended raising the health alert in the event a dengue outbreak occurs in the provincial capital.



According to details, the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) reported a dengue positive case from union council Achini, located on the outskirts of the provincial capital.

The case was dealt with. However, officials involved in the dengue control programme conducted a survey in the village as per the established standard operating procedure.

During the field survey, they discovered that three more people were also carrying the virus.

“One patient, from the same house as the first case, tested positive during the door-to-door larvae detection survey. Larvae were detected in 10 houses and further search is still underway,” a senior health official told The Express Tribune.

The official further stated that the department had closely coordinated with the KTH administration, adding that the patient who tested positive at the facility and those who tested positive during the field survey were all in stable condition and did not require hospitalisation.



A total of 22 dengue virus cases have been confirmed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) in 2018 with 16 patients infected in other provinces.

In September 2017, K-P was struck by one of its worst outbreaks of the dengue virus as thousands turned up with symptoms and tested positive for the disease while hundreds had to be admitted in overflowing hospitals. At least 60 peoples lost their lives across the province with a majority from the provincial capital.

An investigation by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on dengue outbreak in Peshawar has revealed that the presence of a huge number of uncovered water containers used in houses and at workshops was the main reason for the outbreak.

Health officials in the provincial believe that the 2017 dengue outbreak started off in the Tehkal neighbourhood of the provincial capital, spreading to other parts of the district. This was revealed after the K-P health department mapped the Peshawar district to determine the areas where most dengue virus cases had been reported.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2018.