PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department is begun revising the DengueAction Plan to fill the gaps in diagnosis and surveillance of the mosquito-borne disease.

Under its plans, doctors, entomologists, lady health workers and employees of the water and sanitation and other relevant departments will be trained in ways and means to control and prevent dengue next year.

“The revised version of the Dengue Action Plan is being hammered out for dengue prevention and control. There will be minor changes to the existing [anti-dengue] strategy in line with the ground realities,” entomologist at the health department Salahuddin Khan told Dawn.

With the temperatures dropping due to the advent of the winter season, the incidence of dengue hemorrhagic fever is on the decline.

Official says entomologists will be trained in ways to minimise cases

According to Mr Khan, the health department has recruited 38 entomologists in the province to know about the areas with higher population of Aedes aegypti mosquito, which causes dengue.

“Besides doctors, entomologists will also undergo training next month on how to minimise infection levels,” he said.

The official said the revised DAP would be simpler and more comprehensive focusing on the districts with high dengue incidence.

He also said the department would hold a training programme for around 100 doctors to identify and manage dengue patients in medical teaching institutions and district headquarters hospitals, where most cases were treated.

Dr Khan said work was in process on fast-track basis for the early approval of the new DAP by the department for enforcement and the training of doctors, entomologists, lady health workers and staff of the water and sanitation and other relevant departments in anti-dengue crackdown.

He said master trainers would impart their skills to the department’s employees at district levels in January.

“Pakistan has so far recorded around 80,000 dengue cases this year. Of them, around 20,000 were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” he said.

The official said new cases emerged in Sindh and Punjab provinces before the disease spread in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said with the onset of the winter season, which caused the temperatures to go below 20 degrees Celsius, the mosquito production had declined and so were the cases.

Mr Khan, however, said the low incidence didn’t mean that the cases won’t emerge next year.

“We [health department] are taking all precautionary measures against dengue for the elimination of mosquito larvae and eggs to stem the production of mosquitoes, the only source of disease transmission,” he said.

The official said few mosquitoes were left as they’re in warmer places like stores and places inside homes, which were safe from the winter but the mosquito production could be decreased only through the spraying of chemicals in the mosquito breeding grounds and elimination of their eggs.

He said chief secretary Dr Shahzad Khan Bangash regularly chaired meetings on DAP in the current year and ensured the release of special grant for anti-dengue activities, which enabled the health department to take timely measures against the mosquito-borne disease.

Referring to a report of the Integrated Disease Response and Surveillance System, Mr Khan said the province had so far recorded 22,425 dengue cases in the current year with just 18 residents losing life to the infection.

He said the department’s strategy helped the department manage dengue effectively to minimise deaths.

“We will be focusing on the districts, which reported bulk of the cases. Peshawar reported 9,381 cases, Mardan 4,108, Khyber 1,173, Haripur 1,166, Nowshera 932, Lower Dir 866, Bannu 837, Swabi 651 and Malakand 513,” he said.

The official said Buner recorded five dengue cases, Shangla and Swat four each, Upper Chitral and Mohmand three each and Lower Kohistan two, while Orakzai, Kolai-Palas, Kurram and Torghar districts remained dengue-free.

He said approval of the request for appointment of 14 more entomologists in newly-merged tribal districts was awaited.

Mr Khan said the country was worst hit by climate change, so the people were exposed to dengue, especially during hot weather, which increased the chances of mosquito survival and growth.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2022