KARACHI:Sindh Health department has failed to device a comprehensive strategy to control prevalence of typhoid in the province of Sindh as its cases continue to rise in Karachi and other cities of the province.
Provincial Disease Surveillance and Response Unit (PDSRU) report say as many as 17,786 typhoid cases have been reported in November 2016 to May 2019 out of which 10677 are normal typhoid cases while 7,109 are extensive drug resistance (XDR) typhoid.
The outbreak of typhoid fever was reported from different districts of Sindh province from November 2016 out of which 7109 are Extensive Drug Resistance (XDR) typhoid fever. The resistance cases mostly reported from Karachi and Hyderabad.
Out of total 7109 XDR typhoid fever cases, 4973 were reported in Karachi, 1772 in Hyderabad and 364 in other districts. This year a total 1626 XDR typhoid cases were detected across the Sindh province out them 1087 surfaced in Karachi, 386 in Hyderabad and 153 in other districts.
XDR Salmonella Typhi causes typhoid fever, a life-threatening and highly infectious illness that affects millions of people in the developing world and tends to spread in areas with poor sanitation. The risk of acquiring XDR typhoid in Pakistan is high because of insufficient access to clean water and poor sanitation and hygiene. Antibiotic resistant Salmonella Typhi strains have become increasingly prevalent in recent decades.
The government has already begun a mass vaccination campaign in Sindh province in response to the XDR typhoid outbreak. Approximately two hundred and ten thousands children aged 6 months to 10 years in Hyderabad have received typhoid vaccine or the typhoid conjugate vaccine. Sindh government has also implemented water purification and sanitation activities, carried out community and school awareness campaigns on safe hygiene and sanitation practices, and created a national XDR typhoid taskforce.
Health experts recommended improvement in water and sanitation situation in high risk districts, ensuring clean and safe water for drinking, mass awareness and health education, availability and use of chlorine tablets at household and community level, availability of blood test (culture and sensitivity) for detection and availability of typhoid conjugate vaccine.