Woman reportedly dies of dengue at JPMC

An elderly woman died on Wednesday reportedly due to dengue fever and related complications at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) on Wednesday. This is the first dengue-related death reported this year, however, doctors were also quick to point out that dengue was not the only health issue the deceased was dealing with.

The elderly woman, identified as Akraman Mai, a resident of Surjani Town, was taken to JPMC with complaints of multiple ailments, including fever, a few days back. Subsequent medical tests revealed that she was also suffering from dengue fever.

According to JPMC Executive Director Dr Seemin Jamali, the woman was suffering from multiple diseases, including dengue fever, and she died due to complications of her various ailments.

However, the Sindh Dengue Control and Prevention Program was not aware of the dengue-related death. When contacted, Dr Abdul Rasheed Sheikh, its program manager told The News that he could neither confirm nor deny the reports of a patient dying from dengue fever because his office had not received any report from the JPMC administration.

“In 2017, a total 12 people, including four women, had died from dengue fever in Karachi,” he said. Sheikh added that seven of the 12 deceased last year also suffered from other illnesses along with dengue.

Cases pile up

Meanwhile, as many as 10 more dengue fever cases have been reported from across Karachi, taking the number of reported cases to 216 since January 1.

According to the weekly report issued by Prevention and Control Program for Dengue in Sindh, at least 10 new dengue fever cases surfaced across the city in a week, while no new case was reported from other parts of Sindh. A total of 229 dengue cases have been reported throughout Sindh, 216 of which are from Karachi alone.