Breakbone fever death toll mounts to nine in city

The number of deaths resulting from dengue (or breakbone) fever reached nine in the metropolis after another case was reported on Wednesday. The latest instance is the third in six days.

“Syed Mohsin Bukhari, 45, a resident of Garden Plaza in Bahadurabad’s Sharfabad area, was admitted to a private hospital with high-grade fever and other complaints,” Sindh Dengue Prevention & Control Programme chief Dr Abdul Rasheed told The News. “He was tested positive for dengue and died because of it.”

Health experts say Karachi is in the grip of mosquito-borne diseases, including malaria, dengue fever and chikungunya, as dozens of people have died due to vector-borne diseases in the city following the recent monsoon rains, but since majority of the public and private hospitals do not share their data with the authorities, the deaths often go unreported.

Seventy-seven-year-old Marghoob Ali, a resident of Malir Cantonment, was taken to a private hospital on Saturday due to high-grade fever and other complications. He died due to dengue shock syndrome the same day. Sixty-four-year-old Rukhsana Yaqoob was admitted to a private hospital with a similar complaint and related complications. She passed away on Friday.

Dengue is not a lethal disease per se, but it can get fatal for children under the age of 10 and for the elderly over the age of 50. People should take precautionary measures to prevent children and the elderly from contracting it.

Last month 58-year-old Nasim Khawaja, a resident of the Garden locality, had died after she was admitted to a private hospital with high-grade fever, and despite the best efforts of the medical team, she passed away.

Health experts say hundreds of dengue fever cases have been reported at public and private hospitals across the metropolis after the recent spell of monsoon rains, as accumulated rainwater provides suitable breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Similarly, cases of malaria and chikungunya, both vector-borne diseases caused by mosquitoes, are also reported to be on the rise across the city. Dr Rasheed told The News that 2,418 dengue cases were reported last year, with three deaths, and this year, even though the number of reported cases was low and the number of deaths had doubled, the efforts to control the spread of dengue were quite satisfactory.

Urging people to take precautionary measures to save themselves from mosquito bites, the dengue programme chief said they should wear full-body clothes and use mosquito repellents and mosquito nets.

Similarly, cleanliness in and around homes is the responsibility of the citizens, while the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation should conduct fumigation across the city to get rid of mosquitoes, he added.