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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Dengue claims life of three-year-old

By M. Waqar Bhatti
November 13, 2019

As dengue continues spreading in the city, one more child died due to the complications of the disease at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital on Tuesday, health officials said.

“Three-year-old boy Tabish died today at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital due to complications of dengue fever. It is the 33rd death due to the mosquito-borne illness in Karachi and 34th in Sindh this year so far,” an official of the Dengue Prevention and Control Program told The News. The boy was a resident of the Orangi Town area.

The official said the child was under treatment at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for the last couple of days but could not survive due to complications of the lethal viral infection, including dengue shock syndrome and multiple organ failure.

Health officials said the entire country including Karachi was in the grip of dengue outbreak that has killed over 200 people in the country in 2019 while over 45,000 people have so far been infected with the viral illness.

They claimed that during the last 24 hours, over 270 people in Karachi had been found infected with dengue. Dengue fever is claiming one or two lives on a daily basis since last month. Health experts also claim that many deaths occurred in the city due to the mosquito-borne illness have not been reported by the authorities. A day earlier on Monday, a young man died due to complications of the mosquito-borne illness at a private hospital.

“Nadir Ali, 32, a resident of Nazimabad, was taken to the Aga Khan University Hospital [AKUH] this past Friday. He died yesterday due to dengue shock syndrome and multi-organ failure,” said an official of the Dengue Prevention & Control Programme.

The health department official said hundreds of people are still being infected with the dengue virus in different parts of the city.

Health experts have advised the people to remain vigilant and cautious of dengue fever. They have also asked everyone to take every precautionary measure, including the use of mosquito repellents and mosquito nets, to protect themselves and their children from contracting the lethal viral disease.