Skin diseases up by 15% in July: FAFEN

Skin diseases had increased by 15% with an average of 3,275 scabies cases being reported per district in July as compared to 2,842 recorded in the preceding month, said a Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) report. It said that there were 25,827 cases in Faisalabad, Bahawalpur (12,254) and Gujranwala (11,158) had the most scabies cases reported in the observed month during which FAFEN governance monitors visited 90 health offices in as many districts across the country. The monitors found that the total disease burden had increased by 12% in July as compared to June. A total 2,470,345 cases of various diseases were reported out of which 40% of those were acute respiratory tract infections. Faisalabad with 93,219 cases was the highest reporting district, Sialkot (45,107) and Gujranwala (42,472) followed. Gastrointestinal infections constituted 23% of the total disease burden. Out of 580,522 gastrointestinal infection cases, 88% were of diarrhoea and dysentery and 11% of gastroenteritis. In the observed month, 11 % of the registered cases were of skin diseases. As many as 10,681 cases of animal bites were reported with 9,786 dog bites and 895 snake bites. Faisalabad had the highest incidence of dog bites (885 cases) while Rajanpur (93) reported the most snake bites.