Teenager dies of dengue virus

Father said that the boy contracted the virus around 10 days ago when they were in Karachi.

SUKKUR: A 19-year-old boy died of the dengue virus in Sukkur on Sunday.

Zohaib, son of Niaz Ahmed, was brought to Sukkur Hospital from Jacobabad on Saturday afternoon.

The hospital’s administrator, Abdul Jabbar, said Zohaib was bleeding from the nose and mouth and was immediately admitted. They started treatment but he died early Sunday morning.

Jabbar said Zohaib’s father told him that the boy contracted the virus around 10 days ago when they were in Karachi. He was taken to Jinnah hospital, where he tested positive for dengue. He was treated at the hospital and then discharged when he got well. However, two days ago, when they were back in Jacobabad, Zohaib started bleeding and so they had brought him to Sukkur.

Meanwhile, a 10-year-old girl, Sohan from Bund Tari village near Rohri, also died of dengue virus on Sunday. However, hospital officials did not confirm the death.

At present there is only one patient being treated for dengue at Civil Hospital, Sukkur. The patient, Nazim, 25, is a resident of Piryalo.

In Hyderabad, 15 more patients tested positive for dengue in the past 24 hours. The patients belong to Hyderabad, Larkana and Tando Muhammad Khan, said the dengue virus cell’s focal person.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15^th, 2010.