PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department on Tuesday recorded 154 dengue cases, the most in a single day since the start of the year, amid reports from the health department about controlling the high chikungunya incidence in the provincial capital.

An epidemiological report by the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System (IDRS)regarding chikungunya outbreak in Peshawar said that a total of 26 confirmed cases were reported with 21 being men(78pc) and five(22pc) women.

It said a total of 50 suspected people, mostly from Sufaid Dheri and Badhaber union councils, were tested for the mosquito-borne disease.

The report said the mean age of affected individuals was 37.7 years, with a median of 37 years and the most affected group was between 25-55 years, highlighting adult exposure to Aedes mosquito bites.

154 more dengue cases recorded

It said the outbreak response activities were led by Dr Mohammad Gul Sartaj, Dr Mohammad Idrees, Dr Haroon Khan and Dr Asad Zia, whereas all samples were processed at the Public Health Reference Lab at the Khyber Medical University under the supervision of Dr Mohammad Saleem.

However, officials said that the dengue outbreak was still far from over and the department has been waiting for two weeks since the detection of the last positive case.

They said those infected with viral fever had fever, joint pain and body aches but nausea and vomiting were uncommon and no death recorded.

The officials said entomological investigations showed that water storage containers, room coolers and old tyres were the main causes for breeding sites for mosquitoes and outbreak was likely resulted from inadequate larval source management and poor community awareness.

They said water storage practices and non-compliance with preventive measures contributed to mosquito breeding and it predominantly affected adult males and recommended intensified vector control and health education to prevent recurrence.

The officials said that timely response by the health through deployment of staff for vector control and elimination, including fogging and health education sessions for community leaders and schools helped control the disease.

They, however, pointed out that delayed procurement of insecticides and their unavailability prior to vector borne diseases along with power outages for 15-20 hours and a few number of lady health workers affected the campaign.

The officials said currently, 1,200 LHWs cover only 22pc of Peshawar for indoor surveillance and other activities which wasn’t enough and recommended more to cope with the situation in future.

They said likewise, transportation of mobile teams to affected areas was a bigger issue in addition to shortage of entomologists which didn’t suffice as only five worked in Peshawar, so 2-3 teams per tehsils should be deployed.

The officials said the dengue-like illness occurred from Oct 6 to 10, affecting adults aged 25-49 years. The outbreak was attributed to inadequate larval control and community water storage practices, according to them.

Meanwhile, a separate report by the IDRS said that the provincial tally of dengue cases soared to 4160 with 154 more people being down with the infection. The number of active cases swelled to 335, including 93 in Peshawar, 42 in Mardan, 18 each in Haripur and Dir Lower, 16 each in Nowshera and Kohat, 14 in Mansehra and 13 each in Malakand and Swabi. All other districts except a few have active cases between 1 and 10.

It added that the number of people admitted due to vector-born ailment reached 46 as 25 more checked into hospitals.

The report said the disease had so far sent 1693 people to hospitals.

It said 3,823 people had recovered from the infection, with those undergoing treatment in isolation wards included nine in Haripur, seven each in Kohat and Dera Ismail Khan, five each in Charsadda, Bajaur and Nowshera, three in Mardan and one in Abbottabad.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2025