PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded 213 dengue infections on Sunday, mostly from high-risk areas, according to a report of the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System.

The province had so far recorded 6,625 confirmed cases, it said, adding 5,429 patients had recovered.

The report said 115 patients, including 11 in last 24 hours, had been admitted to hospitals.

Officials said seven people had so far died of the infection, adding though mortality rate was very low the recent floods had exacerbated the risk of vector-borne diseases, especially in hard-hit areas, where water was still standing providing breeding spaces for mosquitoes.

Eleven districts have recorded more than 100 cases due to prevalence of larvae in homes and community, officials said, adding the health department had dispatched medical supplies to manage the dengue patients at isolation wards. However, they said prevention of dengue was a multi-sectoral effort by about 20 line departments to ensure uninterrupted electricity and water to the people, so they couldn’t store water.

The officials said dengue action plan (DAP) was approved in December 2019 to make coordinated efforts for vector control by ensuring timely availability of the resources.

A committee formed on the directives of Supreme Court was meant to make sure all the concerned departments took effective steps to prevent transmission by initiating measures in January and February each year to eliminate production of mosquitoes, they maintained.

The officials said the chief secretary, who headed DAP, had been calling meetings of district committees under deputy commissioners daily to take immediate steps in hot-spot areas.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2022