Dengue fever grows in Pak as deaths mount

Karachi, Oct 21: Mosquito-borne dengue fever killed five people in Pakistan's southern Sindh province today, taking the toll to 25 in the past four months, and reported cases rose sharply, a health official said.

Shakeel Malik, a provincial health ministry official, yesterday said two people died in Karachi, and three others elsewhere in Sindh, while 177 patients were being treated.

''At least 53 new cases of dengue fever were reported yesterday,'' Malik told Reuters, adding that special laboratories had been set up at some state-run hospitals to test for the disease.

Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city and the capital of Sindh province, has been the worst hit, with 22 deaths, and over half of them were registered this month.

Dengue is a tropical disease and is caused by a specific type of mosquito -- the Aedes mosquito -- that bites during the day. The mosquitoes usually breed in rain water in discarded containers and car tyres.

Neighbouring India has reported nearly 5,000 dengue cases, including 94 deaths, since August.

Reuters