KARACHI:
It is only the third month of the year and the city has yet to receive the first batch of monsoon rains or experience 40 degree Celsius temperatures, but it has already started registering people afflicted with the dengue virus.
The Dengue Surveillance Cell (DSC) at Civil hospital confirmed on Thursday four cases of the fever that were identified last week, with one of the patients undergoing treatment at a private hospital. From January to date, a total of 29 dengue cases have been reported and treated successfully, said DSC head, Dr Shakeel Aamir Mullick, while talking to The Express Tribune.
All cases reported in the province so far are from Karachi.
Last year, out of 1,079 positive dengue cases, 858 were reported from Karachi and 221 from the rest of the 22 districts of Sindh. Hyderabad and Tando Mohammad Khan reported 75 and 26 cases of the virus, respectively.
Dr Mullick said that it was not unusual to see dengue cases at this time of the year. “This disease is like influenza, which affects people throughout the year.”
The provincial surveillance cell points out that relatively few dengue cases are reported in the first two quarters of the year, with the bulk of them reported during August, September, October and November.
Dr Mullick said that nearly 15 dengue cases were reported during the six-month period from January, 2011, to July, 2011, but that number skyrocketed during the second half of the year. Therefore, it is too early to predict the total number of positive dengue cases for this year.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 16th, 2012.
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