news desk
PESHAWAR
As many as 162 new dengue cases have been confirmed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the last 24 hours, including 61 in Peshawar and the total number of dengue patients in the province has reached 1800.
According to the KP Health Department, 61 fresh cases have been reported from Peshawar, 12 from Lower Dir, 10 from Swat, nine each from Abbottabad and Battagram, Eight from Mansehra, five from Haripur, four from Mardan, three from Shangla, and one each from Lakki Marwat, Buner, Charsadda and Nowshera during the last 24 hours.
So far, 985 dengue cases have been reported from Peshawar, 129 from Swat, 122 from Shangla, 72 from Battagram, 56 from Abbottabad, 35 from Kohat, 33 from Haripur, 32 from Bajaur, 31 from Lower Dir, 28 from Swabi, 17 from Lakki Marwat, 13 from Buner, 11 from Nowshera, 10 from Khyber, two each from Bannu, Karak and Upper Dir and one each from Mohmand, Dera Ismail Khan and Tank.
The health department report shows that the situation is particularly alarming in Peshawar, while efforts are also needed in Swat, Shangla, Battagram, Abbottabad and other vulnerable districts to control the situation. In several districts of KP, there are no separate wards for treatment of dengue patients in the main hospitals, due to which the patients had to come to Peshawar for treatment.
Chief Minister Mehmood Khan during a recent meeting with the health department officials had ordered action against those spreading ‘rumours’ about the spread of dengue in KP. However, as the situation stands now, the number of dengue patients has reached 1,638 which means that the situation is actually alarming and the KP government needs to take emergency steps to control the situation.
During the September 12 meeting, the chief minister was briefed about the situation of dengue in KP. He was informed that most cases are surfacing from Peshawar. The health officials told the chief minister that special cells have been set up in government hospitals for the diagnosis of dengue virus in patients.
After getting the briefing, the chief minister directed all relevant departments to play their role for controlling the spread of the dengue virus in the province. In this regard, he directed to immediately hire entomologists to exterminate the virus permanently.
