PESHAWAR: The commissioner of Peshawar division, Riaz Khan Mehsud, ordered setting up medical camps in dengue-endemic areas as the mosquito-borne disease infected 29 more people bringing the total tally to 851 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He took serious notice of prescribing antibiotics to suspected dengue patients by quacks in some areas and asked relevant authorities to start crackdown on them to save the lives of people as the disease continued to affect more people in Peshawar, the capital of the province.

The commissioner ordered deputy commissioners and district health officers in all five districts of Peshawar division to establish medical camps in dengue cluster areas and enforce Dengue Action Plan 2024 to show results within 72 hours.

The directives were issued at a meeting chaired by him and attended by DCs and DHOs of the five districts. He instructed larvicides spray thrice a day to eliminate mosquitoes, the carrier and transmitters of the disease. Dengue has so far killed two persons in the province, both in Nowshera district.

Action ordered against quacks for administering antibiotics to suspected patients

Mr Mehsud asked the participants of the meeting to speed up efforts in collaboration with line department as the vector-borne sickness was likely to surge in view of the hot season. He directed them to begin holding meetings in their respective districts and send the compliance report to his office without fail.

He said that that in view of rise in hospitalisation due to dengue, hospitals should add more beds to isolation wards to ensure that infected people received medical services to a desired level.

According to a report of health department, 15 patients are currently in hospitals and the number of active cases in the province is 349 while 502 infected people have recovered. On Monday, 125 people were admitted to hospitals where they received free medication, it said.

The commissioner said that anti-dengue efforts should be expedited in Peshawar, which reported 229 cases, the highest number in the province. Nowshera is the only district having recorded two mortalities due to dengue and 79 cases. Charsadda has 55 dengue cases. Most of the cases were recorded during the current month as of the total 851 infections, 708 were confirmed in September.

The commissioner strictly directed officials concerned to swing into action forthwith and warned them of action for any laxity.

Meanwhile, health department has asked all DHOs to ensure contact tracing of positive patients to safeguard people from the infection. They attributed the abrupt uptick in the number of patients to rains that left behind pools of water, which provided breeding spots to mosquitoes.

The infection is widespread as Abbottabad has recorded 114 dengue cases, Hangu has 81 cases, Mansehra 80, Kohat 41, Haripur 24, Mardan 20, Bannu 19, Bajaur 18, Swabi 17, Dir Lower 13 and Swat has reported 12 cases.

Other districts have also recorded dengue patients in a small number but authorities continue to work in all districts as the month of October is likely to cause more infections in view of rains and temperature.

Officials said that dengue provided a source of income to unqualified physicians, who were administering drips and antibiotics to people without testing them. “This is harmful fort people as dengue patients do not need antibiotics and they require symptomatic treatment and isolation,” they said.

They said that people with mild symptoms should be rushed to nearby hospital where they could get free diagnostic and treatment services.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2024