KARACHI: On Thursday, the health authorities in Sindh acknowledged that three more individuals had passed away in Karachi this month as a result of dengue complications, bringing the city’s total death toll to 30.
According to the city’s official data, 297 people in the city had positive dengue tests within the previous 24 hours. As a result of the daily mortality caused by the vector-borne disease, experts in private sector hospitals estimate that the actual number of dengue-related deaths may be five times higher than the official estimates.
“Three more persons have died from dengue fever in the past month at various medical facilities, bringing the overall number of deaths in Karachi to 30. So far, no one has been reported dying from dengue fever in another area of Sindh, a health department official there said on Thursday.
Dr. Azra Pechuho, the health minister for Sindh, has also voiced doubts about the veracity of government statistics on dengue infections and fatalities. According to her, the health agency was not receiving daily case data from many hospitals and labs, and no information was being obtained on persons who died at home from dengue complications.”
The situation of data collecting has improved since I forewarned that all those labs and hospitals would be sealed, preventing them from providing data to the health department, but many are still unwilling to cooperate.
Officials from the health department and the Sindh Healthcare Commission are working to improve the data, she told reporters at a briefing at the University of Karachi.Regarding the newly discovered cases of dengue, health officials reported that 402 persons throughout the province had tested positive for the mosquito-borne illness in the previous day, but as many as 297 more had done so in Karachi.
