MINGORA/TIMERGARA, Sept 16: Though another dengue patient died at Saidu Group of Teaching Hospital on Monday, Swat district saw a decline in dengue incidence.

According to Dr Wasil Khan, focal person for dengue emergency unit at SGTH, the deceased was Raza Khan, 60, a resident of Faizabad Mingora.

He told Dawn that the number of deaths caused by dengue over the last two months had reached 14.

The focal person said 96 more residents of Swat had tested positive for dengue, taking the number of such patients to 3,437 in the district. He said 2,358 dengue patients were admitted to the hospital and 1,910 of them had been discharged after treatment.

Dr Wasil said a decline in arrival of dengue patients had been recorded.

He, however, said 54 patients were discharged during last 24 hours and 16 of them were in critical condition and were being treated at the high dependency unit of the hospital. The focal person said 279 dengue patients, including 95 women and 15 children, were under treatment at various wards of the hospital.

Also in the day, acting Deputy Commissioner of Swat Farrukh Attique attended a briefing at his office on dengue situation in the district.

Mr Farrukh said fumigation and spray were not the only solution to contain dengue.

“Public awareness is the most effective way to prevent dengue,” he said.

The acting deputy commissioner said 0.3 million pamphlets carrying information about what causes dengue and how it could be prevented had been designed and that the schoolchildren would soon be engaged to distribute them to the people.

He said around 4,000 residents had been affected by dengue across the district, while a recent survey conducted through lady health workers showed that 1,700 dengue patients were taking treatment at home.

DENGUE IN DIR: Two people on Monday tested positive for dengue at Timergara Hospital in Lower Dir district.

Senior pathologist at the hospital Dr Fazal Rahim told Dawn that Abdul Rehman, 33, of Khaima village, and Saifur Rehman, 40, of Shingrai village, were the dengue patients. He said the two had been shifted to the ward specified for the treatment of dengue patients.

Meanwhile, the Lower Dir administration on Monday organised a walk in collaboration with Relief International to create public awareness of dengue in Lower Dir.

Deputy Commissioner Zubair Khan led the walk in which the relevant government officials and a large number of people were in attendance.

Mr Zubair told participants that the district administration was striving to keep the city and its adjoining areas clean to prevent dengue and other diseases. He asked the people to help the administration in this respect.

“The weather of Lower Dir is no different than that of Swat, where there is a dengue outbreak, so there is a threat that the mosquito-borne disease may spread here, too,” he said. The deputy commissioner urged the people to take preventive measures against dengue.