Dengue fever claims another life in Karachi

Karachi is in the grip of deadly mosquito-borne viral infection for a few weeks, as health officials said that the dengue fever claimed another life in Karachi on Monday.

“Syed Ali, 25, a resident of Pirabad Colony, Manghopir, was brought to a private hospital with dengue fever, and he died today due to Dengue Shock Syndrome,” an official of the Sindh Dengue Prevention and control Programme told The News.

There were reports that Muhammad Aijaz, a resident of Gulzar-e-Hijri, also died due to Dengue Shock Syndrome at a private hospital on Monday, but health officials said they were not aware of the second such death.

They, however, conceded that 163 persons had been tested positive for dengue fever in the city in a single day, and so far 15 people had died due to the mosquito-borne viral infection this year alone.

Dozens of patients had also been killed by the mosquito-borne viral disease in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the federal capital, officials said.

Eminent health specialists, Prof Tahir Shamsi and Dr Saqib Ansari, were highly perturbed over growing cases of the dengue fever in the city and said that the number of dengue patients coming in everyday was so huge that hospitals were not admitting them due to lack of space.

Most of the public and private hospitals that could deal with the dengue fever and other viral diseases patients were packed to capacity, said Shamsi, an eminent haematologist and specialist of blood-borne disease. He urged the media and authorities to play their role in creating awareness about viral diseases.

Dr Saqib Ansari, who also runs a private health facility and a specialist of blood-borne diseases, claimed that dengue fever had returned after four years due to recent heavy rains in August and September, and he advised people to take precautionary measures on their own.

“Hundreds of patients are being diagnosed with dengue fever on a daily basis, but due to absence of beds at public and private hospitals, most of the patients are being sent home. Only serious patients are being admitted to health facilities,” he added.

Health officials said that the public health facilities were unable to deal with such a large influx of patients as hundreds of patients with signs and symptoms of dengue fever were being reported on a daily basis.

After being disappointed over the performance of municipal and health authorities in carrying out fumigation to eliminate mosquitoes, people had started taking steps on their own and they were approaching different welfare organisations.

“We have approached the Al-khidmat Welfare Foundation, which is busy in carrying out fumigation in different areas of the city, and requested them to carry out fumigation in Block-F, North Nazimabad, as 30 people were admitted to different hospitals in a single day due to dengue fever,” said Zeeshan Jaffri, a resident of North Nazimabad.