NAWABSHAH, Feb 8: The skin disease leishmaniasis, which earlier attacked Dadu and Larkana districts, has now spread to Khairpur district as its six patients from village Bhango Behan, taluka Faiz Ganj, district Khairpur, have been admitted to People’s Medical College Hospital (PMCH) here.

Initially a doze of antimony injection has been administered to the patients including Bashul, 18, Nabul, 45, Imran 10, Nusrat, 12, Gulshan, 22, and Rashal, 15, all by caste Bhango.

The medical superintendent, PMCH, Dr Ali Nawaz Khoso, said that the cases had been diagnosed clinically as well as pathologically.

He said that antimony injections were not available in Nawabshah and he had arranged them from Hyder-abad.

Dr Mohammad Saleem Faiz, assistant professor of medicines, who is looking after these patients, told Dawn that no preventive drug was available for the disease.

He said that this disease had come to Sindh from Balochistan.

He said that the patients from Khairpur would be treated for one month.

Dr Faiz told this correspondent that initial symptoms of the disease included reddishness which later converted into a crust and then big single and multiple ulcers on exposed parts of body.

He said that if not treated properly, the disease could result into development of cancer and the patient could die in two to three years.

He said that the cases of leishmaniasis were mostly found in Kerala and Assam in India.

Answering a question, Dr Faiz said that the antimony injection like Pantamadin and Amphoteracin cost Rs80 each and a patient had to spend Rs2400 for its course.

The medical superintendent, PMCH, said that he had informed EDO health, Nawabshah, in this regard, who would make necessary arrangements and also inform EDO health, Khairpur.

ROADS: Roads from farms to market will be constructed in the district as Nawabshah has received Rs28.3 million from Sindh government for this purpose.