Death toll rises to 20 as dengue claims another life in Karachi

The dengue fever continued to haunt the people of Karachi, where hundreds of people are daily being diagnosed with the vector-borne illness, and one more person has died due to complications of the disease, health officials said on Tuesday.

“Muhammad Saleem, 30, a resident of Ayub Goth of New Karachi, died due to the mosquito-borne illness at a private hospital,” an official of the health department said, adding that with the latest death, the number of deaths due to dengue had reached 20 this year in Karachi.

Sindh Dengue Prevention and Control Program officials said that over 200 people tested positive for the fever during the last 24 hours, and 3,462 people had been affected in the first 20 days of the current month.

They said that so far 6,504 people had tested positive for dengue in the city this year, and most of them were infected this month.

“Karachi is in the grip of the dengue fever as well as other infectious diseases and it is advised that people should take preventive measures as nothing is being done by the authorities and the municipal bodies for the eradication of mosquitoes,” said Dr Umer Sultan, a physician at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC).