KARACHI, July 4: With the advent of summer season in the city, the deaths of infants caused by diarrhoea in paediatric wards of city hospitals has risen sharply. According to estimates, more than 100 lives were claimed by the disease in the month of June alone.

Dr S. Mohammad Afaq, Assistant Director, National Institute of Child Health, attributed dehydration, malnutrition and systemic infections among children under 2 years of age as the major factors. Most of the deaths occurred in 24 hours of their reporting to the hospitals, he added.

He said that diarrhoea is still a major cause of illness and death among children in developing countries, where an estimated 2 million deaths occur annually in children under 5 years of age. Usually, one child suffers 3 to 5 episodes of diarrhoea every year, while children below 2 years may suffer as high as 9 episodes during the same period.

The incidence of diarrhoea is highest in the age group of 6 to 11 months, and this pattern reflects the combined effects of declining maternally-acquired antibodies, lack of active immunity among infants, ingestion of contaminated water or food and direct contact with faeces.

This usually happens when the mother does not wash her hands properly after coming from the washroom or allows the infant to crawl or a child to play in an area where human or animal faeces are present, for example around sewerage manholes, overflowing gutters or playing in rain water mixed with sewage.

Dr Afaq informed that the outbreak of diarrhoea in June mainly occurred due to mixing of sewage with drinking water in Soldier Bazaar and Patel Para areas, from where more than 500 patients were brought to two emergency camps in two local hospitals in a day.