DADU: A severe skin infection, attributed by health officials to sandflies’ sting, has turned into an outbreak as it has already spread across 13 UCs of Kachho belt in the west of Dadu district. According to an official statement, 100 to 150 such cases are being reported at health facilities in the affected area every day.
Health experts in Dadu and doctors at different rural health centres and basic health units of Kachho belt during a visit to the affected areas by this reporter identified the infection as ‘cutaneous leishmaniasis’ and most of them believed that sandflies travelling with nomad families from Balochistan were the actual carriers of the disease.
They warned people against visiting the affected Kachho belt UCs in night hours, citing medical investigation into most cases.
Patients of the infection had started arriving at health facilities a couple of weeks back and gradually their number swelled to several thousand by Feb 1, when Dadu Deputy Commissioner Sami Nisar Shaikh confirmed that as many as 1,500 active cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis had already been reported at the city’s civil hospital and taluka hospitals of Khairpur Nathan Shah and Mehar talukas. Unofficial estimates put the number at over 3,000.
Mr Shaikh said that no fewer than 100 to 150 new cases were being reported at various health facilities in the district, mainly in the west of Dadu, every day.
Health dept mobilises teams to control outbreak in Dadu district
He described the situation as alarming, and said the health department was being asked to take immediate measures to control the outbreak.
The affected areas included Drigh Bala, Karo Jabal, Sado Bado, Pipra Sar, Kafar Koat and Gorakh Hill Station, besides villages along the hill tract of Kohistan like Thano Bula Khan, Karchat and Thano Ahmed Khan.
The UCs where most cases have been reported include Tando Rahim, Sawaro, Wahi Pandhi, Chhinni, Tore, Pat Gul Mohammad in Johi taluka; Mitho Babar, Kando Chukhi, Buriro and Gozo in Khairpur Nathan Shah taluka; and Faridabad and Mado in Mehar taluka.
During his visit to various health facilities, this reporter found that men, women and children of all age groups were among the patients.
Dr Shiraz Dawich, a senior dermatologist at Dadu Civil Hospital, said the health department should arrange for fumigation in all the affected UCs immediately besides ensuring availability of appropriate medicine and injection in an adequate number at the health facilities in order to check further spread of the infection.
He advised people to avoid visiting the affected areas in night hours and also keep their hands, face and feet covered while visiting them in day time.
He along with specialists from the Hyderabad Health DG’s office including Dr Sajida and Dr Javaid Soomro visited Mathin Phulji, Ibrahim Leghari, Sawaro and Wahi Pandhi villages on Monday and examined many affected patients.
The visit was undertaken after Dr Dawich conveyed to the Hyderabad DG’s office that as many as 900 cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis had already been reported at Dadu Civil Hospital over the past few days and an average 50-60 more patients were coming in every day. He said it was a vector-borne communicable disease and spreading fast.
Speaking to this reporter, Director General of Health, Sindh, Dr Mohammad Juman Bahoto, said efforts were being taken to check the spread of the disease and provide treatment to the patients. “A consignment of 1,500 glucantime injections supplied by WHO has been handed over to Dadu officials of the health department,” he said.
He added that teams of dermatologists would be sent to every nook and corner of the affected areas.
Dadu district health officer Dr Abdul Hameed Shaikh said that extra health units for the specific purpose had been opened at government hospitals in Johi, Mehar and Khairpur Nathan Shah talukas.
Johi taluka hospital’s medical superintendent Dr Zubair Ahmed said that around 1,000 cases were reported at this hospital over the past week.
Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2022