Dengue outbreak feared as over 1,100 test positive in Karachi

Karachi: Public and private sector hospitals in Karachi have been receiving a growing number of high-grade fever cases on a daily basis and many of them are being tested positive for dengue.
As per official data, over 1,100 dengue cases have been reported in the metropolis in October alone, reported Dawn news.
“The department received data from hospitals and carried out fumigation in affected areas where cluster of cases were reported,” said Abdul Basit of Sindh’s Dengue Control Programme.
“Routine fumigation is the responsibility of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and respective district municipal corporations,” he said when asked why fumigation was not launched before the Monsoon which might have restricted the scale of the outbreak.
According to the data so far compiled by the department, 115 dengue cases were reported in Karachi on Tuesday while eight in the rest of Sindh’s districts.
An estimated 4,403 dengue cases have been reported this year in Sindh out of which 4,151 were reported in Karachi. The mosquito-borne disease has claimed lives of 15 people this year.