HYDERABAD, May 3: A five-year-old boy died of gastroenteritis at the Hyderabad Civil Hospital on Tuesday.

Talking to Dawn by telephone, Dr Khan Mohammad Leghari of the hospital confirmed the death of Sharafat Ali, son of Qadir Bux. He said the child, a resident of the Malhar village in the Site area, had been brought to the hospital’s paediatrics ward at around 8:20am and he died soon after.

Cases of gastroenteritis and diarrhoea are being reported at the hospital almost every day. Around 220 patients were brought to the hospital in April, 162 in March and 78 in February. In the last three days, 40 patients, mostly children, were reported at the hospital.

Doctors say such cases normally increase in summer because people use substandard food items at public places and consume unclean water.