KP records 98 dengue cases in a week

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has reported 98 dengue cases this week, marking the highest number of infections in the past 34 weeks, according to the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System. The high transmission season, which will continue until the end of October, saw Kohat record the most dengue cases this week with 41 infections, followed by Peshawar with 33 and Bannu with 10.

Peshawar, the provincial capital, leads the tally of dengue cases with 220 infections, while Kohat follows with 209. Bannu, Haripur, Dera Ismail Khan, Bajaur, Swabi, Swat, Charsadda, Nowshera, and Mohmand have also reported cases, ranging from 10 to 52. Across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 3,487 suspected dengue cases were examined, and 581 were confirmed.

Health workers have been working to destroy dengue larvae breeding sites and raise public awareness through 59,267 community sessions attended by 56,777 men and 236,334 women. Larvae surveillance has also been conducted, with 211,206 houses inspected and 529 houses with larvae destroyed. The health department is providing free PCR test transportation and has faced challenges due to medical teaching institutions' non-cooperation in sharing dengue case line-lists.

Peshawar has been the epicenter of dengue outbreaks, previously witnessing a severe outbreak in 2017 that resulted in 70 deaths and 50,000 hospitalizations. Currently, the situation is under control with no reported deaths, but the non-cooperation from medical teaching institutions could lead to a major public health issue.