ISLAMABAD/KARACHI
Despite the government’s tall claims of having the virus under control, the number of patients dying from the virus, and those infected and fighting for their life, tells a different story.
The death toll on dengue patients across the country has already climbed to 21 and nearly 3,000 have been infected across the country so far. The National Institute of Health (NIH) has tested as many as 2,936 people positive for dengue, according to figures released by the Health Ministry on Tuesday.
A total of 433 suspected dengue cases were reported in Islamabad, of which 137 have been tested positive and two have died of the virus. Sindh has the highest number of confirmed dengue patients, with a total of 1,687 confirmed positive out of 3,054 blood samples, while 16 people have been killed by the deadly virus.
Punjab follows next, with two killed and 975 people tested positive for dengue. A total of 317 suspected cases were registered in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, of which 131 have been tested positive. In Azad Jammu Kashmir, one person was reported dead, while 55 people tested positive for the virus. No dengue case has been reported in Balochistan.
Meanwhile, another 72 people tested positive for dengue fever in Karachi on Tuesday, bringing the number of confirmed dengue cases in the city to 1,730. Official data of the provincial Dengue Surveillance Cell reveals that since January, around 3,126 suspected dengue patients were admitted to various hospitals of the city, of which, 1,730 have been tested positive.
The number of deaths in the province due to the virus has reached 16. “The Health Department has so far provided free of charge mega units of platelets to 166 patients,” said Shakeel Malik, the Sindh Health Department’s focal person on the Dengue Surveillance Cell.
