SHANGLA: Health officials have confirmed spike in Chikungunya cases in tehsil Bisham, with local hospitals receiving 40 to 70 patients daily from various parts of the tehsil.

They confirmed that patients were coming to tehsil headquarters hospital and rural health centre, Maira, as well as to the private medical facilities with the complaint of mosquito-borne disease.

The medical professionals told Dawn that first cases were reported in Maira area where a THQ hospital’s team had visited and examined the patients.

A doctor claimed that he had examined around 700 patients in his private clinic from Butyal village and surrounding areas and majority of them were suffering from Chikungunya.

He said patient diagnosed with Chikungunya had symptoms of fever, joint pain, headache, joint swelling and rash on the body but most known symptom was joint pain.

A doctor in the THQ hospital complained that despite several requests to the tehsil administration, neither medicine for the hospital nor fumigation spray was arranged in the area to stem the spread of the disease.

He said number of patients was rapidly increasing in the area as every second person was coming to medical facilities with the complaint of Chikungunya disease. Dengue and malaria patients were also being reported.

Doctors have appealed to the quarters concerned to ensure provision of medicines and increase the number of doctors in the government hospitals to cope with the increasing Chikungunya patients and arrange fumigation spray in the residential areas to control the disease.

CONSTABLES RECRUITED: District Police Officer (DPO) Imran Khan said that the district police recruited 46 constables including a lady constable after formal written and medical tests.

The DPO said that the constables were appointed on merit by following a transparent policy to ensure that the right person got the right job.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2024