PESHAWAR: Dengue virus continued to spread to other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as 42 more patients were diagnosed with dengue in Peshawar, Mardan and Swabi districts on Monday.
According to government officials, 38 dengue cases were reported from Peshawar while four patients were diagnosed with dengue in Mardan. The total number of dengue cases has reached 1,070 in the province.
Interestingly, a meeting of senior doctors and district administration in the office of deputy commissioner in Mardan was told that they didn't have funds for procurement of medicines and other necessary items required for handling the spread of dengue virus and creating awareness among the people so that they could remain safe from the mosquito-borne disease.
"Yes, we held a meeting here in Mardan but every official of the district administration complained about the lack of funds for procurement of drugs, larvicides, insecticides, rapid diagnostic tests or RDTs. Most of the officials complained they had not been provided funds by the provincial government for their routine projects," said an official after attending the meeting.
Pleading anonymity, he said it was decided to wait for funds being provided by the provincial government and make a plan for the eradication of dengue virus in the district. "Since four more cases were reported on Monday, I am afraid it can become an epidemic in Mardan if the government shows negligence as it did in Peshawar," the official feared.
The authorities of the Mardan Medical Complex (MMC) said three cases were reported from Mardan, including 18-year old Sunbal from Takht Bhai, 14-year old Laiba, 12-year old Habibullah Khan and 15-year old Shagufta from Swabi, the home district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Shahram Tarakai. In Peshawar, 38 more people tested positive on Monday.
The three well-equipped mobile health units sent by the Punjab government continued providing services to the residents of three union councils of Peshawar including Tehkal, Pishtakhara and Sufaid Dheri.
Additional Director General Health Services Punjab Dr Muhammad Farrukh Sultan told The News that their 70-plus trained staff continued providing services to the patients for the third consecutive day on Monday.
He said the situation was still out of control and they were utilising all their resources and technical skills along with the KP government to overcome the epidemic. "It is still the episode phase and it will take some time and hectic efforts to control the outbreak of dengue virus," said Dr Farrukh Sultan.
Besides providing services, he said their staff started imparting on-the-job training to their fellow colleagues in Peshawar about surveillance so they can better manage the situation in coming days.
Dr Farrukh Sultan feared that situation might take anugly turn in case it rained in Peshawar, adding it will help dengue spread. The Punjab government has also sent six ambulances to help shift patients shift to the nearest hospitals in case they are diagnosed with dengue positive.
Dr Farrukh Sultan said they received 800 patients today and 70 people, including 30 women, were diagnosed with dengue. He said they lost 350 people while 21,000 others were diagnosed with dengue when the mosquito first hit Punjab in 2011.
The situation, he said was now better as only a single dengue case has been reported from Punjab in 2017 and that was detected in Rawalpindi. According to official statement released by the deputy commissioner office later in the evening, 229 patients with dengue positive were still under treatment in KTH, LRH, HMC and City Hospital of Peshawar.
Majority of the patients are admitted in KTH where two separate wards were declared as isolation wards and presently 181 dengue victims were getting treatment there. A staff member of KTH, Dr Saud was also diagnosed with dengue positive on Monday.