Girl dies as dengue cases surge in Mansehra

MANSEHRA: A young girl, who was hospitalised after being tested positive for dengue fever, passed away on Friday as cases of mosquito-borne diseases surged to an alarming position in parts of the district.

“We need mosquito nets and door-to-door screenings of residents as cases of dengue fever are on the rise. And a young girl who was referred to Abbottabad has died of dengue fever,” Basharat Ali Swati, the chairman of Safada village council, told reporters.

Haleema Bibi, 17, belonging to the Hado-Bandi area of Safada village council, was admitted in the Ayub Medical Complex Hospital in Abbottabad some two days ago where she breathed her last.

He said that door-to-door screenings for dengue fever couldn’t be initiated by the health department as yet despite 40 positive cases reported in his village council. “The health department’s team, on my request, visited the council and distributed as many as 30 mosquito nets and carried out the fumigation spray but steps on war-footings are needed to bring dengue under control,” Swati said.

The cases of dengue fever in Dodial and Mansehra town’s four urban and adjoining village and neighbourhood councils are being reported significantly as people complained the health department was yet to initiate effective measures to control the virus. The dengue cases have been significantly reported in such village and neighbourhood councils located around the streams and rivers.