PESHAWAR: Health department started targeted surveillance in dengue-endemic areas as the mosquito-borne ailment infected 81 more persons during the past 24 hours in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The most affected districts are Peshawar, Abbottabad and Nowshera with 153, 81 and 46 cases, respectively, where health authorities have focused on insecticidal spray along with public awareness campaign to eliminate stagnant water pools. Authorities also urge people to use impregnated bed nets to stay safe from mosquito bites, the carrier and transmitter of the vector-born ailment.

So far, 478 cases have been confirmed in the province in the current year with most patients being infected during September, the ongoing month. A report prepared by Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System (IDSRS) said that 26 people were in hospitals due to severe infection and the province had 225 active patients, who had been isolated to stem the tide of the infection.

During the last 24 hours, 14 people were hospitalised for better management. So far, 106 patients have been admitted to hospitals. Of the total patients, 253 have fully recovered and released from isolation.

Cleric dies in Mansehra as KP records 81 new cases during last 24 hours

Officials said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been reporting dengue cases for the past 10 years and most patients were recorded in September every year. In 2021, the province recorded 1,149 dengue cases, in 2022 it registered 3,584 cases, in 2023 it reported 347 cases and in 2024 so far 335 patients were diagnosed positive for dengue, they added.

They said that the recent spike was triggered by widespread rain that provided sanctuaries to mosquitoes to lay eggs and enhance their production. They said that the ongoing month had always been peak of the virus to surge.

Officials said that the disease was widespread but few areas including Mian Khan Garhi Badizai area on Nasir Bagh Road, Garden Town, Kalma Chowk, Palosai, Achini Bala Mohalla Miangan, Pir Saib Jumat, Pawaka Tango Adda, Sufaid Dheri, Danishabad and Academy Town near Jamia Asaria in Peshawar were the worst-hit localities.

In Abbottabad district, Salyot, Miser and Kothiala were hardest-hit areas while Mandew area in Bannu district and Garhi Habibullah in Mansehra district were the epicentres of the virus where authorities laid more focus on the larvicide activities to eliminate mosquitoes.

Authorities said that more cases would emerge from those districts as there were still standing water pools, which provided breeding spots to mosquitoes.

“Peshawar has been the mainstay of dengue virus since 2017 when it killed 70 people besides sending 25,000 to hospitals, therefore, more staffers have been deployed in the hotspots areas to save the situation from going 2017’s way and safeguard people,” they said.

Meanwhile, a cleric on Tuesday died of dengue fever in Oghi area of Mansehra district amid rising incidence of the mosquito-borne disease.

A spike in dengue cases has also been reported in Lakki Marwat district.

Maulana Ghani Ahmad, the prayer leader at the central mosque in the Dagai Zamanabad area of Oghi, lost life to dengue in a hospital, according to his family.

It said the cleric tested positive for the fever earlier this week.

The residents claimed that the incidence of dengue had surged in Oghi and adjoining areas in the last few weeks.

They demanded of authorities to take additional measures to control and prevent the infection.

The residents said most of cases were reported in the central Oghi, Bazaargay, Jalalabad, Madina Colony, Takia Malokra, Charbagh, Rasheed, Manchora and adjoining areas.

They said those cases, including women and children, were shifted to health centres in Oghi, Mansehra and Abbottabad.

Authorities claim to be making efforts to contain the infection. “I have alerted all basic health units and rural health centres about the situation,” district health officer Dr Faisal Khanzada told Dawn.

He said fumigation had begun across the district.

The DHO said 70 dengue cases were reported in Garhi Habibullah and adjoining Telhata area.

He said he had ordered the submission of the details of dengue patients shifted to health facilities across the district.

Dr Khanzada urged people not to shift dengue patients from peripheries to the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital as well as Ayub Medical Complex Hospital in Abbottabad.

Meanwhile, the district health authorities in Lakki Marwat confirmed eight confirmed dengue cases in the area and said those patients had a history of travelling out of the district.

They also said there was no local transmission of the dengue.

The information was revealed during a meeting chaired by deputy commissioner Fahad Wazir here at the District Headquarters Complex Tajazai on Tuesday.

The other participants included additional deputy commissioner Sikandar Khan, additional AC Gohar Ali, DHO Dr Abdugul, focal person for dengue control and prevention Abdul Aziz Khan, ADEO Dr Ihsanullah, district khateeb Maulana Abdul Wahab, tehsil municipal officers and heads of line departments.

Entomologist Jameel Khan told participants that the health department screened 386 suspected dengue cases in the ongoing year and of them, only eight tested positive for the virus.

He also said that seven confirmed cases arrived in the district from Islamabad and the other from Peshawar.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2024