Over 100 children die of diphtheria in Karachi this year

• All diphtheria cases being referred to SIDH, say health officials.
• They say more than 10 kids being treated at the hospital.
• Only cure for diphtheria is complete vaccination, say experts.

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More than 100 children in Karachi have died from diphtheria this year due to the unavailability of Diphtheria Anti-Toxin (DAT), despite the disease being preventable through vaccination, disclosed a Sindh health department official on Saturday.

The number of diphtheria cases and children’s deaths due to the disease have grown exponentially in the megalopolis.

All the diphtheria cases were being referred to the Sindh Infectious Diseases Hospital (SIDH).

According to the provincial health official, last year, 140 cases were received by the SIDH and 52 of them could not make it. Whereas, over 10 kids were under treatment at the hospital at the moment, they added.

However, following the publishing of this report, the Sindh Health Department later claimed that only 28 children, not 100, lost their lives in 2024.

“This year, 166 diphtheria cases have been reported in Sindh, out of which 28 deaths took place,” it said.

Meanwhile, experts of infectious diseases said the antitoxin medicine used against the disease was not available across Sindh, including Karachi. They said antitoxin worth Rs0.25 million was used for treating one child.

“The only cure for diphtheria is complete vaccination and treatment with antitoxin,” said experts.

Diphtheria is a serious infection caused by strains of bacteria called ‘Corynebacterium diphtheria that make toxins. It can lead to breathing, heart rhythm problems, and even death. Pakistani children are given a vaccine, a combination of five vaccines that protects from five major diseases: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenza type b (DTP-hepB-Hib), the experts added.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Director Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) Dr Muhammad Arif Khan had said last year that diphtheria was a life-threatening disease and timely vaccination was the sole way to prevent fatal ailment and its outbreaks in the community.

“It primarily affects the throat and upper respiratory tract but can also lead to systemic complications. Diphtheria is known for the formation of a greyish-white membrane in the throat, which can cause difficulty in breathing and swallowing.” 

A disease that has been eradicated in most countries around the world has lingered on in Pakistan and it is not an enviable situation for the country and its health authorities. Keeping in view the fact that diphtheria is a lethal bacterial infection, there should not be any compromise in its vaccination to all children.

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— Additional input by Shawwala Aslam