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| August 14, 2007 | Tuesday | Rajab 29, 1428 |
KARACHI: Rains leave hospitals flooded with gastroenteritis cases
KARACHI, Aug 13: After the recent heavy showers that collapsed civic infrastructure in the city, increasing number of gastroenteritis cases are being reported at government hospitals.
At the National Institute of Child Health, more than 50 children were being brought daily at the emergency ward with symptoms of mild to severe dehydration since the advent of rains, Dr Shamsher Ali told Dawn on Monday afternoon.
“Today, we have received 31 patients so far. Of them, 10 children have been admitted. But, their number will increase as the day progresses,” he said.
He pointed out that majority of the children, who had been brought to the healthcare centre so far, aged between four and nine years while 75 per cent of them were on bottle feeding. “This is the major reason for children becoming vulnerable to infection. Parents are repeatedly told to stop bottle feeding, use boiled water, properly clean utensils and give an easy digestible diet to children,” he said, adding that most of the patients were coming from low-income areas where proper sewerage system did not exist.
About 80 cases were reported at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre on Monday which was much higher than the daily average of around 40 to 50 gastroenteritis cases reported at the hospital, said Dr Seemin Jamali, in charge of JPMC’s emergency section.
She advised public to fumigate homes, eat well-cooked food and prevent children from consuming ice candies and junk food. There was an imminent danger of dengue epidemic after rains so every precaution should be taken to avoid the repeat of last year’s episode, she said.
The Medical Superintendent of Civil Hospital Karachi, Dr Kaleem Butt, said there had not been a sudden surge in gastroenteritis cases at the hospital yet. However, he said, the possibility could not be ruled out in the coming days.
The Pakistan Medical Association has urged civic agencies to take swift action for disposal of rainwater accumulated in almost every locality before it becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes and flies, which could result in spread of malaria and other infections.
At a time when the incidence of diarrhoea, gastroenteritis and other water-borne diseases are already on the rise, the process of chlorination and putting alum has come to a halt at all the seven filtration plants of the KWSB, resulting in supply of unclean water to the city.
Confirming that almost the entire city was being supplied muddy water nowadays, sources in the KWSB said the process of chlorination and alum mixing had been suspended temporarily. They said the water supplied to the city, from both the Indus and Hub sources, was carrying enormous quantity of mud and as such mixing even a high quantity of chlorine and alum would not give desirable results.
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