National Institute of Health (NIH) on Friday said that total 738 dengue cases have been reported so far from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) during the year. According to an official of NIH, five deaths have been reported and in total 706 cases were reported from Peshawar while 19 cases were reported from Mansehra, five from Mardan, three from Abbottabad and two from Haripur.
He said that keeping in view the situation in KP, it is imperative for provincial authorities to be vigilant about the dengue fever outbreak and take certain steps to limit further transmission. He said that due to the dengue surge in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Field Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Division, NIH Islamabad has issued an advisory regarding prevention and control of dengue fever. He added, the objective of this advisory was to sensitize human and animal health care authorities specially in KP to further strengthen and improve the level of preparedness in prevention and control of Dengue.
The advisory called upon hospitals to build their capacity for management of patients, to keep rapid response arrangements in place, and to maintain regular liaison with relevant departments and stakeholders.
He said that the dengue is the most common arthropod-borne viral (Arboviral) illness in humans caused by mosquito named Aedes Aegypti and Aedes Albopictus. He said that dengue has emerged as a worldwide problem since the 1950s. Detected first during 1994, the dengue fever has now become endemic in almost all geographical regions of Pakistan, he added.
He said that there is no specific treatment for the disease and urged precautionary measures to prevent dengue fever. He added, according to advisory for KP, community survey to determine density of vector mosquitoes (Aedes Aegypti and Aedes Albopictus)is essential besides identifying and destroying mosquito larval habitats.
He added Aedes Aegypti is domestic mosquito that breeds in mainly man-made artificial containers in and around human dwellings. Among these, the most preferred breeding sites are drums, traditional water tanks and house hold utensils, tyres and other discarded containers that hold fresh water may become infested.
He said that proper solid waste disposal and removing whatever water collection from containers called source reduction or environmental management should be a primary consideration in mosquito control to prevent access by egg-laying female mosquitoes.
The official said that Larviciding has been recommended for large water storages and strictly following the dose criteria of manufactures, particularly when used for drinking water. He said that the advisory also recommended thermal fogging in case of emergency, epidemic and high vector density while space spraying must be conducted at the time of peak activity (dawn and dusk) of adult Aedes mosquitoes.
The advisory said that Indoor Residual Spray (IRS) is generally not highly recommended intervention during outbreak of dengue. However it should mainly focus on schools, public meeting places and offices during outbreak, he added.
Peri-focal residual spray has been recommended to control dengue vector. All walls of the potential containers where evidence of breeding of Aedes mosquitoes is recorded should be covered prying outer and inner side as well as other objects up to 60cm from the container.
He said that the provincial government should conduct community mobilization through lady health workers, schools, local government and religious leaders, to promote protection against day biting mosquitoes including use of screening, protective clothing and repellents.
He said that the provincial authorities should work for promotion of school-based community awareness programmes targeting children and parents for improved water storage practice to control vector breeding at home. The advisory also recommended that the community should also be trained using mass media and community volunteers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
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