KARACHI, Nov 1: The dengue death toll in Sindh rose to 14 as the provincial health authorities on Tuesday confirmed the death of a patient, who was admitted to a private hospital in Karachi about two weeks back.

According to the provincial dengue surveillance cell, a 64-year-old man living in the New Sabzi Mandi area on the Superhighway was admitted to the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) on Oct 18 and tested positive for dengue. The patient died on Oct 31 in the hospital, taking the figure of dengue-related deaths this year in Karachi to 12 and in the province to 14.

With the latest victim of dengue fever — spread by female mosquito Aedes aegypti — in the city, the number of patients who died of dengue at the AKUH increased to five. Of the other seven patients, three died at the Civil Hospital Karachi, two at the Ziauddin Hospital and one each at the OMI Hospital and the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

Meanwhile, with 31 more patients having been admitted to various government and private hospitals in the city during the past 24 hours, the total number of suspected dengue cases reported to the dengue surveillance cell increased to 1,030. Of them 668 (65pc) have so far tested positive for dengue during the year.

Another 214 patients have tested positive for dengue in 20 other districts of Sindh.