PESHAWAR
Chief Secretary Dr Shahzad Khan Bangash on Wednesday presided over a special meeting to review the ongoing efforts of the provincial government to prevent the outbreak of dengue and deliberate over a comprehensive plan of awareness in the community to prevent them from the dengue fever.
Secretary Health, DG Health, Director PMRU, Deputy Commissioners and District Health Officers attended the meeting.
The forum was informed that under the supervision of the health department serious steps have been taken to prevent dengue virus outbreak.
The Chief Secretary directed the concerned quarters to take pragmatic steps and attention to hot spots in high risk districts of the province.
He said the departments concerned and elected representatives should work round the clock and launch an effective public awareness campaign about preventive measures.
He also made an appeal to citizens for following the precautionary measures to protect from the dengue.
The meeting briefed that so far the province reported 5264 dengue cases have been reported this year, adding that fogging and larvicidal spraying are being done in all high risk districts.
It added further that more than 1215 beds have been reserved for dengue in hospitals across the province.
A report of the health department said that so far, six persons have died of dengue fever in the province. During the last 24 hours, 37 more patients were hospitalised, making the total number of currently admitted patients 722, it said.
The report said that a total of 5,506 patients tested positive for dengue so far throughout the province, including 37 recorded on Wednesday.
It said that the cases would continue to rise due to the recent floods that resulted in stagnant water pools in the affected areas. It added that 3,886 patients recovered from the ailment and were sent home from hospitals. The number of active cases is 1614 in the KP.
According to daily situation report issued by the provincial health department, Mardan has recorded 1,724 cases, Khyber 666, Nowshera 466, Haripur 363, Peshawar 1215, Dir Lower 314, Charsadda 155, Dera Ismail Khan 94, Kohat 124, Malakand 80, Kohat 124 and Swabi has registered 74 cases.
Health department officials informed the meeting under the supervision of CS-KP that about 90 per cent of the cases were asymptomatic. Of the positive cases, only two per cent required hospitalisations with less than one per cent in ICU and high dependency units.
Officials added that the mortality rate is less but there is a need for a multi-sectoral approach to eliminate stagnant water pools as these are breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
