–As many as 49 people in Ratodero and 9 in Shikarpur found affected with HIV/AIDS
SHIKARPUR: As many as 49 people in Ratodero and 9 in Shikarpur were found affected with HIV/AIDS, raising the total number of positive cases to 331 in 13 days in Ratodero and 22 in Shikarpur, respectively.
On Friday, 920 people were screened in villages in Ratodero and 517 in Shikarpur districts.
Out of the 49 suspected cases in Ratodero, 38 are children and 11 women.
Screening camps were also established in villages Tayab and Subhani Shar apart from Ratodero town.
In Tayab village, as many as 198 cases were screened (63 males, 47 females and 88 children) out of which only one case tuned out to be HIV positive. He was identified as 6-year-old Rehan whereas at village Subhani Shar 250 cases were screened and six were detected HIV positive.
In Shikarpur, 517 people in Dhakkan, Pirbaksh Theem and Sarang Shar villages were screened for the deadly disease.
Shikarpur DHO Ghulam Shabir said that the affected children have been referred to AIDS Centre Lahore while the crackdown against quacks and fake doctors will continue.
It is worth mentioning here that earlier four more children were tested HIV positive in Pir Bux and Sarang Shar villages of the district.
The Sindh Health Ministry is yet to determine the causes of HIV outburst in Larkana where so far 157 people, including 127 children have tested positive for the disease.
According to details, a meeting was held in Ratodero with Larkana commissioner in the chair to ascertain the reasons for the HIV outbreak in the city.
The meeting was told that it could not be proved yet that Dr Muzaffar Ghanghar was responsible for the transmission of HIV among the residents, said sources.
