HARIPUR, Oct 27 The National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, has diagnosed 56 patients, including 14 women, as dengue positive in Haripur district while 15 suspects have been put under surveillance at district headquarters hospital, official sources told Dawn here on Wednesday.

They said that following the outbreak of the disease in Haripur the health department had sent blood samples of 232 suspects to the NIH for dengue test. The NIH, according to sources, had sent back the results of 132 samples, of which 35 had been tested positive. It has also diagnosed as dengue positive 21 other patients whose blood samples were sent to the NIH by Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad.

Dr Bilal, district coordinator health information, also confirmed the figures, but declined to agree that there were more than two dengue-related deaths in Haripur during the last two months.

He said that 15 patients, including eight women, were admitted to the DHQ hospital, Haripur, as dengue suspects and their blood samples had been sent to the NIH for test. He said that house to house spray and awareness campaign about the disease was in progress across the district.

The dengue fever reportedly caused death of about a dozen people in the year 2003 when it appeared for the first time in Haripur and since then it was a regular phenomenon in the district.

About nine deaths have been reported from different parts of the district this year alone. However, local health authorities have confirmed only two dengue-related deaths, saying that they have no proof of more such deaths.

Meanwhile, Haripur-based NGOs, including HDO, Sungi, NCHD and NAHD, have also joined hands with the local health authorities in raising awareness of the diseases among the public.

LAKKI MARWAT The district health department has launched preventive measures to stop occurrence and spread of dengue virus in the district following high incidence of dengue cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and other parts of the country, health officials told this correspondent on Wednesday.They said that the district health authorities had approached Lakki Marwat and Naurang tehsil municipal administrations to take steps such as insecticides spray for checking mosquito-borne diseases.

The officials said that the health department would extend technical cooperation to the civic bodies in destruction of mosquito habitat. They said that the department was also planning to reserve a ward in the district headquarters hospital equipped with medicines and necessary treatment facilities for patients of dengue fever and other such diseases.

EDO health Dr Abdul Ghaffar Wazir said that no case of dengue virus had so far been detected in the district. However, he stressed for launching an awareness campaign to guide people on how to avoid such diseases. He advised people to cover drinking water pots and protect themselves from mosquitoes, especially at sunrise and sunset timings.

When contacted, Lakki tehsil administrator Qalam Badshah Khattak said that the sanitation department had conducted insecticides spray in several parts of Lakki town. He said that when needed a fresh drive would also be launched to destroy mosquito habitats.