May 11, 2007	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 23, 1428

NAWABSHAH, May 10: Gastroenteritis claimed two more lives in the district and 25 new cases were reported at the Nawabshah Medical College Hospital on Wednesday and Thursday.

Another man died of gastroenteritis in a Larkana village.

In Nawabshah district, wife of Syed Iftikhar Shah died in her home in the Mohini Bazaar area on Wednesday night. She was suffering from gastroenteritis for a couple of days and was getting treatment through a private clinic.

A man called Bazooka, 60, died of gastroenteritis in Sakrand taluka hospital on Wednesday. Dr Manzoor Shaikh at the hospital told Dawn that the patient, apparently with some mental disorder, had no attendant or NIC. He had informed the doctors that he was a retired policeman and resident of Sanghar. The doctor said that his body had been handed over to Edhi volunteers for burial.

LARKANA: Fifty-year-old Syed Sardar Shah died of gastroenteritis in the Pir Muhban Shah village near Moenjodaro while scores of patients suffering from the disease were brought to different hospitals affiliated to Chandka Medical College Hospital (CMCH) on Thursday.

The CMCH Medical Superintendent Dr Syed Mehboob Shah confirmed that the hospital was receiving eight to ten patients daily but no one had so far died of the disease there.

“We are sending reports to the health ministry about the health disorder on a daily basis,” he said.

Dr Abdul Hameed Shaikh, associate professor of paediatrics, said that the CMC children hospital reported 20 to 25 patients daily, most of them suffering from severe dehydration caused by eating rotten fruit, food and drinking contaminated water.

The patients mainly come from Ratodero, Warah and the areas adjoining Larkana district, he said and added that the situation could be brought under control by involving union council nazims and elected representatives.

Dr Amanullah Shaikh, senior registrar at the CMC children hospital, said that he treated 30 to 35 gastroenteritis patients at his private clinic daily.