Nawabshah resident dies of dengue fever

Karachi

A 30-year-old man hailing from Nawabshah district became the first casualty of dengue hemorrhagic fever in the province last week when he died at the Liaquat National Hospital (LNH), officials of the Sindh Dengue Prevention and Control Program officials declared on Thursday.

Wazeer Ahmed, 30, a resident of village Dorr in district Nawabshah, was brought to Liaquat National Hospital on May 23 with high-grade fever. He was given treatment but he died at the hospital on May 26, said Dr Masood Solangi, program manager of the dengue control program.

However, claimed Dr Solangi, since the patient hailed from Nawabshah and contracted the disease in his hometown, his death could not be attributed to the prevalence of dengue in Karachi.

He then went on to claim that there was no epidemic of dengue fever anywhere in the province, including Karachi, when dozens of patients are coming to different hospitals every day with symptoms and complications from dengue fever.

According to the weekly report of the dengue control program, at least 33 new patients have received treatment in the current week at different hospitals of the city while around 607 patients have so far been diagnosed with dengue fever in Karachi alone.

The total number of dengue fever patients in the province is around 658.

However, experts claim that the number of dengue fever patients is much higher since hundreds of patients are visiting private clinics and hospitals.