3 more deaths reported from dengue in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 8: Three more deaths were reported from dengue fever in Pakistan as the number of dengue infections continued to rise in the South Asian country.

The new deaths were reported in the eastern Punjab, southern Sindh and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, the health authorities said on Friday.

Punjab recorded 351 new dengue cases in the last 24 hours, the provincial health authorities said. The newly reported infections included 100 cases in the city of Rawalpindi, followed by the provincial capital Lahore with 89 cases. The total number of dengue cases in Punjab this year has now gone up to 8,383.

In the last 24 hours, Sindh reported 337 new infections. The province's worst-hit area was Karachi, the provincial capital, which reported 268 new cases.

With the newly reported dengue cases, the October figure to date for the province has risen to 2,130, bringing the local total tally to 12,284 this year.

In the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 328 more people were diagnosed with dengue, according to the provincial health department. The number of active cases in the province currently stands at 2,539 and the total number of infections this year has reached 11,071.

The national capital Islamabad recorded 123 new dengue cases in the last 24 hours, the health authorities said. The city's total tally has risen to 2,986 this year.