HARIPUR/SWABI: At least 11 dengue cases have been detected in Haripur and Swabi districts, according to official sources.

In Haripur, the local health officials have diagnosed eight patients as dengue positive during the current season, District Health Officer Dr Saifullah Khalid said on Tuesday. He said that over 150 others tested negative to the disease at the government hospitals of the district.

Dr Khalid said that of the eight positive cases, four were discharged after treatment, three still admitted in the dengue isolation ward of DHQ Hospital, Haripur, and one patient was referred to Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad.

He said that condition of the three admitted to the DHQ Hospital was getting normal. Answering a question, he said that all the reported cases were from Kangran, Beer, Haripur city and Sera-i-Nehmat Khan.

He said that fog spray had been carried out in these areas and communities were educated about the preventive measures. However, he said that spread of the mosquito-borne disease from other areas like Rawalpindi could not be ruled out.

Talking to this correspondent, the focal person for dengue prevention programme Dr Sher Bahadur said that anti-vector spray was being carried out in 13 high-risk union councils of Haripur district.

In Swabi, health officials on Tuesday confirmed the first three dengue fever cases in the district. District Health Officer Dr Mohammad Niaz told this correspondent that the three were under treatment in a separate ward set up for dengue patients in Bacha Hospital Complex, Shahmansoor.

He said that the patients were stable and recovering. He said that all these cases were in fact from outside the district as one patient Ayesha Tausif belonged to Mansehra district and she visited her relatives in the district. Similarly, Gohar Ali, who belongs to Kunda village, has reached here two days ago from Karachi, while the third patient belongs to Sheikh Dheri village.

The district health authorities have established separate wards for dengue patients in Chota Lahor and Razaar THQ hospitals and Yar Hussain civil hospital.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2019