Conceding that 129 lab-confirmed cholera cases have so far been reported in Karachi during the last four months, the provincial health authorities have said that the city has not gone through a cholera outbreak.
“With 56 lab-confirmed cholera cases reported so far this month from South and Central districts of Karachi, 129 confirmed cases of cholera have been reported by six public and private hospitals in Karachi.
Mostly children under the age of five were found infected with Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium which causes cholera in the humans,” Dr Asif Saeed, an official of the Sindh health department, told The News.
According to World Health Organisation (WHO), cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with Vibrio cholera, and if not treated timely, acute watery diarrhoea can lead to severe dehydration and death.
The Sindh health department official, who is responsible for the surveillance of infectious diseases and outbreaks in the province, claimed that not a single death had been reported anywhere in the city due to cholera.
Sharing details of the cholera cases in Karachi, he said that five lab-confirmed cholera cases were reported in January 2022, followed by 14 in February, 54 in March and 56 in the current month till April 25.
