Karachi reports alarming surge in chikungunya, dengue cases

KARACHI: Karachi reported an alarming surge in cases of chikungunya, dengue, and malaria, along with other viral infections, ARY News reported.

According to provincial health ministry, the Sindh province has seen a notable increase in suspected chikungunya cases, with 411 reported and 153 confirmed in Karachi alone.

The dengue cases are also on the surge, with 1,724 cases reported in Sindh this year, including 1,484 from Karachi. Unfortunately, one death related to dengue has also been reported in the province.

Malaria cases are also on the rise, with a staggering 2,22,239 cases reported in Sindh, including 1,768 from Karachi. Medical experts in Karachi are seeing a high volume of patients daily, with symptoms including fever, body aches, and swelling in the feet.

The increasing number of suspected chikungunya cases is a concern, but the high cost of diagnostic tests is a barrier for many citizens seeking testing.

On the other side, Sindh reported a sharp spike in malaria cases as the province reported over 100,000 cases of the disease during last week.

READ: Sindh ‘reports 106684 malaria cases’ in last week

As many as 106,684 cases of malaria were reported across Sindh during the past week.

The highest 11588 malaria cases were reported in Larkana, while Khairpur remained second on the list with 10681 cases.

Qamar reported 7998 malaria cases, Mirpurkhas, 7230, Dadu 6045, Badin 5948, Sanghar 5703, Tharparkar 5126, Tando Allahyar, 4809, Sukkur 4673, Naushehro Feroze 4590, Shikarpur 3970 and Umerkot reported 3546 malaria cases.

According to NIH sources, Karachi reported 779 cases during the past week including 155 cases from District West, 135 from East, 82 from Korangi, 52 from South and six malaria cases from Kemari.