29 cases of dengue reported in a week

Karachi 

As many as 29 new cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever were reported in Karachi in the 24th week of the year, and 10 of the patients were admitted to various public and private hospitals in the city while remaining 19 were discharged after treatment in the out-patient departments of the hospitals, officials said.

The program manager of the Provincial Dengue Control Programme Sindh, Dr Masood Solangi, said 30 patients had been diagnosed with dengue hemorrhagic fever, 29 from Karachi and one from Khairpur.

But independent experts claimed that the number of patients with dengue viral fever could be much than the reported cases as most of the private hospitals still did not share their statistics with the health authorities in the province.

He said dengue fever had so far claimed one life in the province. He added that a resident of Nawabshah had been brought to Karachi with dengue fever, who died at a private hospital during treatment a couple of weeks back.

Dr Solangi said the situation of dengue fever was yet in control in the province due to the absence of rains but he warned that situation could get out of control after during the upcoming monsoon season.

Officials have urged the municipal authorities to take stock of the situation and adopt preventive measures before rains so that the dengue fever could not cause deaths in the city.

Dengue hemorrhagic fever has become a serious threat in countries of Far East, including Thailand and Philippines, and in South Asia, including India and Bagladesh, while it has been emerging as a new health threat in Singapore due to climate change, experts said and warned that unless an effective vaccine is developed, dengue could cause scores of deaths in the Asian countries.

Health experts in Karachi urged people to take preventive measures before monsoon season, take measures to clean their surroundings and use mosquito repellents to ward off flying insects, including mosquitoes.