Over 25,000 dengue cases reported in Pak this year

Islamabad, Oct 11: Pakistan has recorded over 25,000 dengue cases so far this year, with a total of 42 fatalities due to the mosquito-borne disease, according to health authorities.

According to a government document available with Dawn news, 6,537 cases were reported from Islamabad, 5,642 from Punjab, 4,403 from Sindh, 4,276 from Khyber Pakhtun­khwa and 2,750 from Balochistan.

The remaining cases have been reported from other regions, including Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) and Tribal Districts. Almost two-thirds of the cases have been reported from the Potohar region.

Dengue has claimed lives of 15 persons in Sindh, 13 in Islamabad, 10 in Punjab, three in Balochistan and one in PoK.

Rana Safdar, chief of Disease Surveillance Division at the National Institute of Health, said:"Like many other countries in the region, Pakistan is also facing dengue upsurge in 2019."

This year the government has established a national centre to tackle dengue on the pattern of the national centre dealing with polio, he said, hoping that from next year better results would be observed.

The highest number of dengue cases in Pakistan was reported in 2011 when 27,000 people were affected, with 370 casualties.