PESHAWAR: While recording the highest daily dengue tally in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa this year, the health department has posted epidemiologists to public sector hospitals across the province to collect the “accurate” data of the people infected with the fever.

A total of 141 residents tested positive for dengue in the province on Monday, the highest daily number of the infection in the last 12 months, taking the year’s overall case count to 2,147.

Alarmed by the rising dengue incidence, director-general (health services) Mohammad Saleem Khan ordered the posting of epidemiologists to medical teaching institutions and district headquarters hospitals with the objective of gathering accurate dengue data to focus on surveillance, control and management of the cases, according to officials.

They told Dawn that those public health research professionals, totalling 15, had been tasked with maintaining close coordination with the administrations of the respective health centres to collect dengue data in a timely manner for investigation and management so that surveillance and response could be enhanced.

Epidemiologists posted to MTIs, hospitals to strengthen fever control, management

The officials the dengue cases could witness a spike in the coming weeks, so there was a need for the collection of right information about infection incidence for effective action.

They said the DG had also asked hospital administrators to ensure a close contact with epidemiologists to have scientific data and for timely response to prevent the spread of the fever.

Meanwhile, director (public health) Dr Irshad Roghani told Dawn that the health department had stepped up activities in view of an increase in dengue cases.

He said lady health workers had inspected 219,501 houses for dengue and found mosquito larvae at 379 places that were discarded by lady health workers through mechanical ways.

The director said 11,41,955 containers were checked inside houses before 456 were disposed of.

He added that health workers inspected 39,253 outdoor breeding sites and found 413 places with larvae, which were eliminated with the support of malaria supervisors and employees of the relevant departments.

Dr Roghani said 934 houses were fumigated.

“We have also conducted 6,657 dengue awareness sessions that were attended by 55,118 people, while 37,815 sessions disseminated dengue preventive and curative measures to 185,021 women participants,” he said.

Meanwhile, a report released by the health department’s Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System said Peshawar continued to record the most dengue cases in the province, with Nasir Bagh Road, Tehkal Payan, Tehkal Bala, Palosai, Pishtakhara, Academy Town and Danishabad being the most affected areas.

It added that dengue clusters were found in Katlang area of Mardan district, Gangyano Killey of Hangu district and Jijal of Lower Kohistan district.

The report said the department had been carrying out anti-dengue activities throughout the province, with a focus on endemic areas as more cases were likely to surface in the current month.

According to it, Peshawar, which has emerged as the epicentre of the vector-borne disease every year, has recorded 731 dengue cases, followed by Abbottabad 185, Mansehra 183, Hangu 165, Nowshera 151, Lower Kohistan 127, Charsadda 121, Mardan 73, Kohat 58 and Haripur 50.

It said the mosquito-borne disease was widespread in the province as cases were coming from all districts.

The report showed that 16 more patients were hospitalised in the last 24 hours, taking the tally of the current such admissions to 66.

It added that 324 dengue patients had so far been hospitalised, while the active cases in the province totalled 642. A total of 1,503 people have recovered from dengue.

Doctors at the hospitals told Dawn that only two deaths from dengue had been reported in the province in the current year.

They insisted that the mortality from the infection had reduced due to improved disease management at hospitals, which had taken dengue as a recurring public health problem.

The doctors said the province had been witnessing dengue outbreaks since 2010, with 2017 being the worst year when the infection killed 70 people and sent 25,000 to hospitals.

They said not only had the health professionals “mastered treatment” but the people, too, had begun taking precautionary measures against the fever.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2024