Epidemic: Peshawar records first dengue cases

After infecting thousands of people in the rest of the province, dengue made its way to Peshawar where two cases were reported on Wednesday. Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) Communication Officer Farhad Khan told The Express Tribune the two people infected with the disease were brothers Muhammad Bilal, 26 and Bakht Jamal, 20, both residents of Gulbahar. Khan said the brothers were administered treatment and their condition is stable. He added 38 patients with dengue fever had been brought to the hospital from across the province. According to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Health Department, 340 patients are still admitted in various hospitals, while 30 people have died. According to official records, 7,242 cases of dengue have been confirmed from Swat, 112 from Mardan, 223 from Malakand, 111 from Lower Dir, 48 from Shangla, 31 from Mansehra, 20 from Buner, 18 from Abbottabad and five from Haripur. However, according to the district health office in Mingora, 81 new cases of the disease were reported by late Wednesday evening, increasing the total count to 8,040.

Around 49 dengue patients have been brought from Swat and Dir to the Hayatabad Medical Complex and 14 have been shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital from Swat since the outbreak. Mingora Meanwhile, dengue fever claimed three more lives on Wednesday taking the official death toll to 30 and unofficial to 50. Twenty seven-year-old Farman Ali, a resident of Malookabad, died in Peshawar while 30-year-old Faisal Hayat, a resident of Mingora and 70-year-old Jamal Khan died in Saidu Teaching Hospital (STH). Furthermore, 51 dengue positive patients were admitted to the STH bringing the total number of patients registered with the hospital to 4,322. “Currently, 177 patients are hospitalised in STH including 126 males and 51 females. Around 25 patients are in critical condition in the intensive care unit, whereas one was referred to the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar,” said STH spokesperson Dr Wasil Ahmed.