Over 100 Malaria Cases Reported In Karachi

News Desk

Karachi: Over 100 malaria cases have been reported in a day at a major government hospital in Karachi and a total of  828 dengue cases have been reported so far this year with no deaths, according to the Dawn report.

Dengue cases have started to rise in Sindh which has raised fears that the disease may affect a large section of the population in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, an increase in the prevalence of malaria has also been observed.

Information collected from various health centres shows that malaria has become a major cause of concern in the past few months, affecting hundreds of people in the city, and official figures do not reflect reality.

As per the Health Department data, only a few hundred cases of malaria have been reported in Karachi during the last few months; the situation is the opposite in Sindh, where thousands of people are affected by malaria.

The official data stated that more than 31,000 cases were reported in Hyderabad division alone in August; 213 cases of malaria in May, 255 in June, 277 in July, and 474 in August were reported in Karachi, but no deaths were reported.

However, data collected from Sindh Infectious Diseases Hospital and Research Center shows that two patients died of malaria in May this year and one patient died of dengue in June.

A total of 320 malaria patients were treated at the hospital this year (37 in May and 52 in June), and the patient admission rate has increased from 52 in July to 133 last month.

The hospital also treated 102 dengue patients this year; 14 malaria and 5 dengue patients were admitted for treatment this month (September).

According to the Indus Hospital (Korangi Campus) Spokesperson, 20 malaria patients were admitted in July and 36 in August. A total of eight dengue patients were admitted for treatment during the last two months, he added.

The spokesperson further said that, currently, we have nine malaria patients and three dengue patients under treatment in the hospital.

Sources said that one of the main reasons for the difference in the data is that most of the malaria and dengue cases were reported and recovered in clinics instead of hospitals.

Hospitals provided the data to the health department. However, a limited number of dengue and malaria patients developed complications and were admitted to hospitals.