PESHAWAR/Charsadda: The health department has escalated surveillance and response efforts against Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever after outbreak of the vector-borne ailment in Charsadda district.

Dr Shahid Yunis, the additional director general of Health Services, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has dispatched teams including members of Field Epidemiology Training Programme (FETP) at Provincial Disease Surveillance and Response Unit (PDSRU) to Rajjar union council in Charsadda district. The teams inspected the area and began surveillance to put brakes on the outbreak of the disease.

Charsadda has so far recorded 70 dengue cases, including 49 in Rajjar union council where authorities have started collecting samples from close contacts of patients to test them for the mosquito-borne ailment. A total of 12 patients have been hospitalised, 19 are getting home-based treatment and 35 have recovered.

During inspection of 9,532 houses in the infected areas, 16 containers were found positive for larvae of the total inspected 41,443 containers that were discarded.

Lady health workers also continued holding awareness session inside houses with female, who were told not to store water in open utensils as those served as potential breeding sites for mosquitoes, the carriers and transmitters of the disease.

The district has recorded 70 cases during two days

The adviser to chief minister on health, Ihtisham Ali, has ordered immediate establishment of a dedicated dengue isolation ward to ensure timely and quality treatment of all patients.

A report, submitted to the health adviser by District Disease Prevention and Response Unit (DDPRU) Charsadda, has identified Rajjar, Ameerabad Mohammadzai and surrounding localities as dengue hotspots.

It said that indoor larval breeding was found during inspections and immediate measures were taken to eliminate breeding sites. A crash surveillance plan has been developed for the affected union council where health officials in collaboration with lady health workers will conduct door-to-door surveillance and community awareness to ensure effective coverage.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has recorded a total of 133 dengue cases this year so far. Eleven cases were reported in the province from January to April, eight cases were registered in May, 12 in June, 35 in July and 67 in the current month.

Last year, the province reported 4,200 dengue cases with three deaths but this year no mortality has been reported so far.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is endemic to dengue virus as it recurs every year. This year, Charsadda is leading with 70 cases, followed by Abbottabad with 17 cases, Peshawar and Chitral Lower 11 cases each, Dir Lower nine, Bajaur six, Mansehra five, Chitral Upper four, Haripur, Swat, Bannu and Lakki Marwat three cases each and one each case has been reported in Karak, Kohat, Kohistan Lower and Malakand.

Peshawar, which remained the epicentre of the disease every year, witnessed the worst outbreak of the disease in 2017 during which 25,000 infections were recorded along with 70 deaths.

In Charsadda, tehsil municipal administration has been instructed to conduct immediate cleanup operations, maintain a continuous cleanliness drive and establish an effective waste disposal system to prevent future outbreaks.

In addition, other line departments, particularly education department, have been urged to take preventive measures, including emptying and cleaning school water reservoirs during vacations to avoid mosquito breeding.

District health authorities have pledged to mobilise all available resources, strengthen community engagement and ensure inter-departmental coordination for effective dengue prevention and control in Charsadda.

They said that health department reiterated its commitment to ensuring rapid response, community engagement and coordinated action to protect public health in Charsadda and other dengue-affected areas.

The residents of the affected areas have been advised to eliminate stagnant water pools, cover utensils inside their homes, use long-sleeved shirts, bed nets while asleep and cover their feet to stay safe from mosquito bites.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2025