Dengue cases surge to 1,200 in K-P

Government appoints focal person, intensifies anti-dengue campaign

PESHAWAR:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has appointed Dr. Ikramullah as the focal person for dengue control in the province as 1,200 cases of dengue have been reported from across the province so far and the anti-dengue campaign has been intensified.

Official sources told The Express Tribune that in the last 24 hours, 85 new cases have been reported. Health Secretary Adeel Shah on Friday visited different districts including Peshawar and conducted spot surveillance work.

Secretary Health visited different areas of Peshawar and checked the dengue larvae hotspots by visiting door-to-door.

On this occasion, awareness pamphlets along with mosquito nets were also distributed among the general public. On this occasion, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Director General Health Services Dr. Muhammad Salim Khan, Focal Person of Dengue Control Program, District Health Officer Peshawar Dr. Idris Khan also accompanied Secretary Health.

They also held an awareness walk along with the residents of Irrigation Colony located on Tehkal and Warsak Road Peshawar.

They made door-to-door visits to the people and informed them about dengue mosquito and dengue fever. On this occasion, he said that the spread of dengue has increased these days. To avoid the dengue mosquitos, it is important to identify it.

He informed the local residents not to leave standing water in refrigerators, room coolers, in pots and on roofs to accumulate as these are safe havens for dengue mosquitos. He added that community awareness messages are being played continuously on various media channels, radio and social media, in BRT bus stations and buses.

So that the awareness message reaches as many people as possible. Secretary Health informed that 0.4 million mosquito nets have been distributed in all the districts of the province so far.

It may be recalled that in August this year, health department had shown serious concern over a possible dengue outbreak across the province following the monsoon rains.

The department alerted all high-risk districts across the province regarding the outbreak, instructing them to further tighten the surveillance.

Although cases had been reported from 14 districts in K-P, some districts such as Chitral Lower, Upper Dir, Buner, and Mardan have only reported one case each till August.

Other districts have reported a few isolated cases. According to the report, Charsadda with two cases, Kohat with two, Nowshera with two, and Swat with three cases are leading in terms of the number of cases.

The health department declared seven districts in the province as high-risk areas, where positive cases have been reported.

These districts include Peshawar with 17 cases, Dera Ismail Khan with two, Bannu with 11, Hazara with 13, Kohat with two, Mardan with 10, and Malakand with 20 cases.

Efforts were intensified in these districts to control the situation. Officials said that that Peshawar was particularly surfaced as a hotspot for dengue, with only 17 cases reported by July 10, and four positive cases reported from the same area within a week.

Currently, hospitals have ensured the availability of beds and medicines. All District Health Officers have been instructed, especially after the recent monsoon rains, to take measures as October and November are the peak season for dengue larvae proliferation.