PESHAWAR: Health department has issued guidelines regarding safety measures to prevent skin infection in flood-hit areas as the province has recorded more than 3,000 cases of scabies so far.

The department has also sent advisory to district health officers to put brakes on water and food-borne sicknesses amid a report released by Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System (IDSRS) of the public health section at directorate-general health services that 11 flood-stricken districts have recorded 395 scabies patients during the last 24 hours.

Video messages were also circulated through internet for the residents of affected districts. A message, conveyed to affected districts, said that floods brought plethora of ailments, especially skin infections, which were avoidable provided the people adopted preventive measures.

According to it, people should wash wounds with soap and if possible they should avoid travelling. It has warned people against coming into physical contact with infected persons and asked them to avoid using the towels and other utility stuff, like blankets, pillows and bed sheets used by any person having skin problem.

Over 3,000 cases of scabies have been reported in KP

It said that wound should be washed and bandaged and kept away from muddy and contaminated water. “Try to stay safe from getting wounds while in case of redness and watery wounds; people should contact the nearest health facility to receive rapid medical aid to remain safe from complications,” it added.

People have been advised against using contaminated water for hand washing or ablution as this will cause skin issues. It says that people also stay vulnerable to food and water-borne diseases, which can be prevented through use of clean drinking water.

“Don’t prepare food using flood water and make sure that clean water is used for cooking food intake. Fruits and vegetable should be washed with clean water prior to consumption,” it said.

The message conveyed to district health officers said that those measures could safeguard people from host of ailments in the areas devastated by severe floods.

Meanwhile, the report said that communicable diseases continued to haunt people as 467,341 patients had so far been examined at health facilities and 228 medical camps in affected districts. They included 31,367 patients afflicted with communicable diseases and 5,337 of them were recorded during the last 24 hours.

It said that during the past 24 hours, health workers recorded 1,805 patients suffering from acute respiratory infections, 1168 acute diarrhoea (non-cholera), 36 bloody diarrhoea, 191 eye infections, 205 malaria cases and 28 cases of dog bite.

According to the report, a total of 338 deaths and 356 injuries also occurred during flood while a total of 60 health facilities got damaged including 57 partially and three fully. The calamity also destroyed 60 houses of lady health workers (LHWs) including 28 fully and 32 partially. LHWs have been using their houses as health facilities for the community and women visit them for their pregnancy and other health issues.

It said that dengue haemorrhagic fever was under control as a total of 74 patients were admitted to hospitals, including 73 in Charsadda district where the outbreak was ongoing for the past 10 days. The province has so far recorded 670 dengue cases and 591 patients have recovered. The number of active cases is 79. During the last 24 hours, 76 new cases have been diagnosed.

The report said that health department sent bed nets to flood-hit areas in addition to launching awareness campaign due to which vector-borne diseases were under control.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2025