QUETTA:
A gastro outbreak killed four people, including three children and one adult, in the Sibi district of Balochistan on Saturday with Balochistan Director-General of Health Dr Noor Qazi confirming the tragic loss.
A state of emergency was declared at the Sibi District Headquarters Hospital to provide medical treatment to the affected patients.
So far, 11 persons including eight children, two women and a man have been brought to the Sibi hospital, Qazi told The Express Tribune.
The outbreak has prompted Balochistan Caretaker Chief Minister Ali Mardan Domki to take notice of the situation who has ordered the dispatch of senior health officials to the area along with the necessary medicines.
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Following the orders from the caretaker chief minister, Balochistan Health Secretary Abdullah Khan, under the supervision of the DG Health, has dispatched teams of expert doctors and medical staff along with essential medicines and ambulances.
The team has been directed to investigate the causes of the outbreak.
Additional medical staff and essential medicines have been provided to the hospital in Sibi in order to enable it to handle the emergency efficiently.
Steps are being taken with the support of the PHE Department Secretary to prevent further spread of the epidemic caused by lack of clean water in different areas of Sibi district and to create awareness among local residents.
Sibi’s pediatricians, specialist doctors and medical staff from other fields are engaged in the treatment of patients.
Waterborne diseases still haunt the inhabitants of Balochistan.
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In September last year, two minor girls died of cholera in Dukki district as over 1,500 cholera patients were admitted to the Dukki District Headquarters Hospital for treatment after an outbreak.
This pushed up the total death toll to six in the district in a week.
An official of the health department told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity that there was a large influx of patients. He said that most of the patients were discharged after treatment and only over two dozen were currently admitted to the hospital.
The health department has already declared an emergency to cope with cholera and other water-borne ailments among the flood victims after record flash floods wreaked havoc across the province recently.
Most of the patients infected by cholera were women and children. Two-year-old Ayesha and a seven-year-old girl died in Yaro city, the official said.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 12th, 2023.
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