The death toll from the dengue virus has reached seven in Karachi with the death of a teenager and a woman who breathed their last at the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK).
Despite clear directives of the Sindh government, the Sindh Dengue Surveillance Cell (SDSC) has started covering up the number of dengue-positive cases and deaths as a result of the virus reported even in the state-run hospitals.
Thirteen-year-old Huzoor Bakhsh, a resident of the Bashir bridge area who was ill with thalassaemia major and hepatitis B, suffered viral hemorrhagic fever and died at the CHK on Thursday, September 29.
Dr Muhammad Shakeel Aamir Mullick – the SDSC Provincial Focal Person and CHK Additional Medical Superintendent (General) – was not confirming the report despite repeated inquiries.
However, after increasing pressure from the media, Mullick eventually confirmed the death on Monday. He claimed, “Yes, Bakhsh had died on September 29, but it was not reported to the cell. We received confirmation on Monday, so we have released the report to the media.”
Twenty five-year-old Anita Kamran – who had recently married and was living in Chaman, Gharibabad, Nawaz Colony – was dengue-positive and admitted in the CHK, where she died early Monday morning.
With 23 new dengue-positive cases, the number of total confirmed cases in the metropolitan has risen to about 400 since last year.
The Sindh government had issued strict directives to the SDSC to monitor the dengue situation in the city round-the-clock after the virus started wreaking havoc in Lahore.
The SDSC had issued its phone numbers for the general public, but no one from the cell ever received any calls on those numbers.
As for Mullick, sources said he is not interested in the SDSC and has asked the provincial government several times to transfer him.
