PESHAWAR: After the Covid-19 pandemic, the dengue fever is raising its ugly head once again in the provincial capital, Peshawar, where 110 cases have been reported in the preceding 24 hours.
There are a total of 33 patients undergoing treatment in two major hospitals – 21 to Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) and 12 in Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC). The KTH officials said that the hospital has conducted 1113 tests out of which 655 were tested positive. Similarly, HMC has conducted 657 tests out of which 57 patients were tested positive and 12 were admitted to the hospital.
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According to health department, most of the patients were from Peshawar’s Tehkal, Safid Dheri, Danishabad and Sarband locality while dozen of patients were also received from Landi Kotal tehsil of Khyber district. “There are dengue patients in every house in Danishiabad but the district administration has not carried fumigation,” a citizen told media, adding that there are pools of stagnant water in the area which service as breeding grounds for dengue mosquitoes.
Taking note of the increasing cases of dengue virus in different areas of Peshawar Division, Commissioner Peshawar Division Riaz Khan Mehsud on Tuesday issued direction to the Deputy Commissioners of Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda, Mohmand Tribal District and Khyber Tribal District for immediate action. “Daily performance report against the dengue virus should be conveyed to the commissioner,” said the notification.
The Khyber Pakhtunhwa health department has said that since 1st September, a total of 16023 dengue tests have been conducted of which 2110 patients were tested positive. While during the current year, 4,442 dengue cases have been reported in the province, of which 305 are confirmed dengue fever cases.
On 20 September, the Young Doctors Association (YDA) expressed ‘grave concerns’ over the rise in dengue cases. The YDA president Dr Faisal Barakzai said that besides Peshawar, Dengue fever cases were also reported from Buner. Barakzai said, “There is lack of coordinated efforts by departments, such as Water and Sanitation service, PESCO and tehsil municipal administration, to deal with the virus.” He said stressed that beside fumigation, awareness campaign should also be launched regarding preventive measures.
The dengue virus had wreaked havoc in Peshawar in 2017 when more than 10,000 people in Achini, Tehkal, Palosai, Sheikh Mohammadi and Sarband areas were reported and hospital ran out of beds.
How is dengue spread?
The mosquito that spreads dengue in Pakistan and all over the world is ‘Aedes aegypti’. This spotted skin mosquito is often active in Pakistan after the monsoon rains – from September to December. According to experts, the mosquito grows in a temperature of 10 to 40 degrees Celsius. Dengue is caused by the bite of Aedes aegypti mosquito. It lay eggs and larvae are reared in clean and still water with a favorable environment.