PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has recorded 446 dengue cases this week bringing total tally of the people affected by the vector-borne ailment to 2,219.
A health department report shows that 1,319 people were diagnosed in Sept, the highest number of dengue cases recorded in any month, this year. From Jan to May, the total count of infections was 115 and upswing trend began in June with 90 dengue cases, in July 115 and in Aug 560 cases.
Officials said that Oct would see the disease infecting more people as the high transmission season was in full swing. They said that people were reluctant to adopt preventive measures despite repeated calls by the department. Dengue cases will start getting down in Nov with the onset of winter season when mosquitoes don’t survive.
Kohat, which continues to report more infections, recorded 237 dengue cases this week and leads the provincial tally of cases with 1,313 patients. Peshawar, which used to be home to the highest number of infections, is placed in distant second position after Kohat with 324 cases.
Officials fear major outbreak in current month
Except the current and last year, Peshawar remained the epicentre of dengue virus. However, now Kohat is a major challenge for the department where it has deployed most of its staff in view of the violent outbreak declared two weeks ago. The main issue facing the department is the stagnant water pools inside refugee camps demolished by the government, which are breeding spots for mosquitoes, the carrier and transmitter of the disease.
The report said that there were only 112 active cases in the province which included 92 in Kohat. Bannu has 106 dengue cases, Khyber 101, Haripur 62, Charsadda 37, Nowshera and North Waziristan 30 each, Abbottabad 26, Karak 24, Lakki Marwat 23, Dera Ismail Khan 19, Swabi 18, Mansehra 17 and Bajaur 16 while other infected districts have reported cases in single digit.
So far, 8,905 suspected patients have been examined throughout the province with no death, according to the report prepared by Integrated Diseases Surveillance and Response System. Dengue cases are rising as 100 infections have been confirmed in the last 24 hours. There is no hospitalisation due to dengue.
“However, the current month is feared to be highly favourable for mosquitoes and many patients can check into hospitals in case people continue to defy the requests of health department for adopting preventive measures,” officials said.
They said that medical teaching institutions (MTIs) in Peshawar were not responsive to the department’s requests for sharing line-list of patients. “If the situation persists, Peshawar can witness the worst outbreak,” they said. They added that dengue infections were being diagnosed in MTIs but those weren’t recorded due to which the disease could spread to communities.
More than a dozen villages in Peshawar are historically endemic for dengue.
These villages recorded cases every year but health department started subsequent interventions due to which outbreaks were averted.
However, the current year, especially the ongoing month, is very dangerous as most cases are expected from all the endemic areas.
Health department has been able to take timely measures in line with Dengue Action Plan 2026, curtailing the cases, but outbreak in Kohat and more cases from Khyber can create public health issues.
Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2026
