Death toll hits 28 as elderly man dies of dengue

PESHAWAR: An elderly man died of dengue on Tuesday and the death toll from the mosquito-borne disease jumped to 28 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The deceased Inayat Khan, 77, was living on the campus of the University of Peshawar, according to the Dengue Response Unit.

He had fallen ill and taken to the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) on September 14 and was provided free medicines.

Health experts had feared that it might become catastrophic if the virus entered the university campus as a large number of students were living over there.

Interestingly, the Dengue Response Unit took notice of a couple caught by the security guards of Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) allegedly carrying dengue mosquitoes with the intention to spread them at the sprawling hospital building.

Dr Shahzad Faisal, team leader of DRU, sent a strongly worded letter to the HMC administration for taking no action against the alleged culprits caught with dengue mosquitoes.

According to the letter, a copy available with The News, stated that the couple was taken to the hospital administration but it didn’t take any action against them and rather allowed them to go.

“The competent authority has taken serious notice of this incident and has directed for an immediate report to be submitted in writing to this office,” Dr Faisal mentioned in the letter meant for the HMC administration.

Another official of provincial Health Department told The News on condition of anonymity that some organised groups were involved in spreading dengue mosquitoes in different places of Peshawar and elsewhere in KP.

Asked why they were doing this and who is backing them, he said, “They are doing it for the sake of money and these organised groups involved in this dirty game want to malign the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led government in KP”.

Of the 28 patients, who died of dengue, the majority of them belonged to Tehkal and Pishtakhara union councils in Peshawar.

It was Tehkal where dengue virus was first reported in July after hundreds of residents contracted the mosquito-borne disease and were taken to KTH.

And since July, the hospital has constantly been receiving dengue patients from these areas. The hospital and its staff have become almost exhausted of receiving dengue patients.

All these patients are handled by the Medicines Department of KTH, where head of the department Prof Mohammad Humayun Khan and his staff are also required to visit different units.

A senior official of the hospital told The News that the staff had become overstretched, but they can’t refuse to admit more patients.

He said Rs10 million was spent from the hospital resources on providing free services to dengue patients.

Meanwhile, 1852 patients were taken to different hospitals in KP on Tuesday where 338 of them were diagnosed with dengue.

Of 338 dengue patients, 110 were admitted in the hospitals and 115 others were discharged after recovery.

Presently, 362 dengue patients are under treatment in different hospitals. The majority of these patients are getting treatment at KTH, Hayatabad Medical Complex and Lady Reading Hospital.

The KTH received 1,116 patients and after their screening, 220 tested positive and only 58 of them were admitted.

The hospital is currently having 224 indoor dengue patients.

The HMC received 180 patients and tested 38 of them dengue positive. It admitted 14 dengue patients where 66 patients are currently under treatment.

Around 279 dengue patients were brought to LRH and 35 of them were diagnosed with dengue.

Mardan reported 15 dengue patients, followed by Mansehra with 10 patients, Nowshera with four, Abbottabad two and Buner and Bacha Khan Medical Complex in Swabi one each case.

In Peshawar, the Mercy Teaching Hospital tested five dengue patients and Safwat Ghayur Hospital reported one dengue positive case.