PESHAWAR: Two more people, including a woman, died of dengue here on Tuesday taking the death toll from the mosquito-borne disease in the province during the last three months to 52.

Though the residents of the dengue-hit areas, mostly Peshawarites, are turning to mosquito repellents to prevent mosquito bites, the excessive power outages in these areas have aggravated the crisis.

A statement issued by the Dengue Response Unit here said Meher Taj of Sufaid Dheri area and Aslam Khan of Pawaka area died of dengue at the Khyber Teaching Hospital.

It added that in the last 24 hours, 1,790 suspected patients of dengue turned up at the hospitals and 368 of them tested positive for dengue and 121 were hospitalised.

The statement said 103 patients were sent home after recovery leaving 427 under treatment.

Meanwhile, the growing dengue incidence has caused panic among Peshawarites, who are using repellents and bed nets to prevent mosquito bites. Shopkeepers in the villages worst hit by dengue said more and more people were visiting to buy anti-mosquito sprays and repellents manufactured by both local and multinational companies.

“Most people purchase local stuff due to low price, while the well-off people go for costly medicines against dengue,” said Junaid Khan, a general store owner in Tehkal area, where dengue has been endemic for six months.

He said capitalising on the situation, some shopkeepers also sold the recently-manufactured unknown repellants in the form of lotion, which were bought by the people unable to afford known products.

“In the dengue-affected union councils, manufacturers have also started advertising their products by displaying banners and posters promising protection from mosquitoes bites,” he said.

Rafiq Khan of Sufaid Dheri, another dengue-hit village, said he had got mosquito repellent for one month due to which his family was safe from dengue. He said all the people couldn’t afford to purchase mosquito repellents on regular basis.

Many people said they had got fumigation conducted in their homes and neighbourhoods on their own after dengue cases surfaced. In KTH and Hayatabad Medical Complex, many suspected people got dengue tests from private laboratories due to the influx of people at government laboratories.

Doctors at the KTH said the number of dengue-infected people was increasing due to which the people were taking precautionary measures against mosquito bites on their own. They said advocacy campaigns launched by the health department and district government had failed to deliver the goods as the houses and automobile workshops were still replete with larvae but the people were reluctant to dispose of water.

The doctors said the people were waiting for temperatures to go down to a level, where mosquitoes didn’t survive, but it seemed it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

They said the only way was to convince the people to eliminate mosquito breeding sites to prevent dengue.

The residents of dengue-hit areas and physicians also declared power outages responsible for worsening the problem saying they are exposed to mosquito bites. The residents of Sakeeraram Street along GT road and adjoining areas said three new dengue cases had been detected in the area.

They said the district administration had made arrangements for fumigation but the Pesco was carrying out 12 hours long outages in violation of the prime minister’s directives that loadshedding should not last more than six hours in urban areas.

The people appealed to the prime minister and chief minister to take note of the matter for corrective measures to prevent dengue. They also threatened to stage protest against Pesco officials over the matter.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2017