KP dengue tally reaches 4,856 as October peak drives new infections

Dengue fever cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reached 4,856 after 51 new infections were reported on Sunday, according to the provincial dengue situation report compiled by the Integrated Diseases Surveillance and Response System (IDSRS) at the Directorate General of Health Services.

Dawn, which carried the figures, reported that 2,244 of the total were recorded during October, the month the province treats as the peak of its dengue season. The newspaper based its report on the IDSRS situation report.

Kohat is the worst-affected district, with 2,822 cases registered there, more than half the provincial tally. Peshawar follows with 611 cases and Khyber with 430, the report shows. Dawn's published account named those three districts; a fuller district-wise breakdown was not carried in the portion of its report available to this newspaper.

Dawn also reported that experts have called for preventive measures as the count continues to climb, with the province still inside its peak transmission month. The newspaper did not, in the available portion, name the experts or set out the specific measures urged.

The IDSRS figures are the numbers the provincial health directorate publishes to track the outbreak district by district. The report as summarised does not give figures for hospital admissions, deaths or bed availability.

Dengue is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, which breeds in standing water and is most active in the weeks after the monsoon rains. Case numbers in Pakistan generally build through September and peak in October before falling as temperatures drop. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa count has not yet shown that seasonal decline.

Kohat and Peshawar have consistently been among the districts reporting the highest dengue caseloads in the province's recent seasonal surges. Sunday's figure of 51 new infections was the latest single-day addition given in the report.