Spread of Dengue fever troubles Nangarhar residents

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): Some residents of eastern Nangarhar province have expressed concerns about the spread of Dengue fever but according to the health officials the virus posed no serious threat.

Officials dismissed propaganda about Dengue fever in social media and said according to their evaluation and inspection the virus posed no serious threat.

Although the officials do not reveal the exact figures in this regard, they say that only 75 cases have been registered in the health center in the Kabul Camp area of ​​the 9th district, where people were very worried.

But Nangarhar residents said more people have been infected by Dengue fever in areas from Torkham to Jalalabad and most patients visited private clinics for this reason figures available with health officials were low.

Rizwanullah, a resident of the 9^th Municipality District of Jalalabad City, said there were more Dengue diseases in this area and people called for emergency health services.

Rahmanullah, a resident of Marko area in the Ghanikhel district, said the number of Dengue cases was growing in the area.

He said if the Public Health Department did not take steps for its prevention the virus will spread throughout entire province soon.

Local officials have acknowledged the spread of Dengue and said the situation was not serious.

Dr. Ajrurahman Alkozai, the Surveillance Department head, said when people's concerns about the spread of Dengue increased, the Department of Health appointed a delegation to investigate the matter, and in some areas where there were many reports, investigations were conducted.

“A joint surveillance and malaria team went to the area, we looked closely at the area, first we had a meeting with the head of the health center of Kabul camp, and we saw almost their figures for the last month. 75 dengue cases were registered, and then we went to the field, in the field we tested 31 people, out of which only 8 cases were positive,” said Dr. Alkozai.

He said looking at these figures, there were positive, but as they were publicized on social media networks, these cases were low and were of no serious nature.

Dr. Sayed Abdullah Baryalai, a specialist in infectious diseases in Nangarhar, said Dengue and malaria diseases are transmitted by mosquitoes, people can protect themselves by using mosquito nets, eliminating stagnant water, keeping water in pots and taking other protective measures.

Dengue is a viral disease that is transmitted to humans by the dengue mosquito. After seven days, the patient shows a high fever, cough, vomiting and pain.

This virus has recently been transferred from Pakistan to Afghanistan through Torkham and is currently only seen in the areas of Nangarhar that lie along the Durand Line.

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