KOHAT/ LANDI KOTAL: A three-month-old child, identified as Ishra, died of dengue as the number of dengue fever patients rose to 260 in Kohat on Saturday.

The child, daughter of one Irfan Khan, belonged to the most-affected area of Lachi tehsil. Sources said that she was admitted to the KDA teaching hospital from where the doctors referred her to the women and children hospital where she breathed her last.

An official of the KDA hospital confided to this correspondent that the child was brought to the hospital where she was diagnosed as dengue positive. He said that instead of admitting her to the special dengue ward the doctor on duty referred her to the women and children hospital, also known as LMH, saying that children were treated there.

Sources said that the child remained unattended for several hours and when her condition deteriorated she was referred to Peshawar. They said that the child died due to negligence of doctors.

Meanwhile, the number of dengue patients in Khyber tribal district reached 242, the district health officer and five of his children among them.

Focal person for Khyber Dr Khalid Salim said that most cases had been reported from Bara due to its proximity with some localities of Peshawar where a large number of dengue patients were diagnosed during last few weeks.

He said that DHO Dr Shafeeq Afridi along with his five children were under treatment. He said that preventive steps had been taken in areas of Bara. He said that the health department was providing free medication along with distributing free mosquito nets among the dengue-affected patients.

Meanwhile, the Directorate of Elementary and Secondary Education, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, through a notification imposed a ban on participation of all teachers of the newly-merged tribal districts in any kind of political activities or protests.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2019