• JPMC, CHK report more cases over past 10 days than first half of month
• Experts advise frequent hand washing, avoiding close contact with sick people and staying hydrated

KARACHI: The city is seeing a spike in the number of flu cases over the past eight to 10 days, senior health experts shared on Monday, urging people to take precautionary measures to cope with changing weather conditions.

“We have been seeing patients with flu-like symptoms for over a month but their numbers have just doubled over the past week, rising from 30 to 40 per day to 70 to 80 now, with the gradual seasonal shift towards winter, especially the drop in night-time temperatures,” said Dr Irfan Siddiqui, heading the emergency department of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).

He said, “At the initial stages [of illness], people generally turn to clinics in their neighbourhoods, and it’s only when the disease takes a serious turn that they report to a hospital’s emergency department”.

He added that the large number of cases at one of the city’s key tertiary care hospitals indicated that a far greater number of people are being affected in the city and the number of patients visiting the hospital was just the tip of the iceberg.

JPMC, CHK report more cases over past 10 days than first half of month

The spike in flu cases, he said, was seasonal and that people with weak immune systems, the elderly and children, were more vulnerable.

Another factor contributing to the spike, he pointed out, was the general public’s reluctance to adapt their eating habits to changing weather conditions, which could make them more susceptible to illness.

Most flu patients currently reporting to the hospital, he said, were aged between 18 and 32 years and belonged to the labour class. A significant number of them were heavy smokers and drug users. “Patients are generally presenting with severe illness and taking a longer-than-usual time for recovery,” he added.

Dr Siddiqui emphasised the need to practise good hygiene and maintain healthy habits. He advised people to wash their hands frequently, stay at home when ill, avoid close contact with sick people, stay hydrated and get adequate sleep. He also advised against consuming cold drinks and water.

“Getting a flu shot every year [early fall] is the most effective step to reduce the risk of seasonal flu and potential complications. But the vaccine is costly and available only at private healthcare settings.”

As at JPMC, the number of flu patients reporting to Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) has doubled in just over a week.

“The cases have jumped from eight-10 [a day] to 30 to 40. This includes people of all age groups, though younger people aged 20-30 are dominant,” said Dr Imran Sarwar, additional medical superintendent and head of the emergency department at CHK.

“Perhaps it’s more contagious this time as we are getting three to five patients of the same family,” he said, adding that flu treatment was symptomatic, with only a few complicated cases requiring admission.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2026

KARACHI: An infant boy battling mpox for more than a week at a hospital died early on Saturday morning — the first mortality of a baby from the contagious viral infection in Karachi.

Sources told Dawn that the 52-day-old baby boy had reportedly contracted the infection during circumcision performed at an “illegal” hospital located in Malir. He remained under treatment at the Sindh Infectious Diseases Hospital & Research Centre (SIDH&RC) for at least 10 days.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a senior doctor at the hospital said that another infant patient with mpox was still in critical condition.

“His key health indicators are not good. The information gathered from his parents indicates that he too underwent circumcision at the Malir hospital that has been officially sealed recently over concerns related to lack of infection control measures,” he said.

Death takes Sindh’s tally to 12, with 98 cases reported so far this year

According to the sources, at least seven patients, including a SIDH&RC worker who is believed to have contracted the infection from the hospital, are currently under treatment for mpox at the healthcare facility. They all are residents of Karachi.

These cases include two workers employed at the fruit and vegetable market on Superhighway and a female patient, who reportedly contracted the infection from her husband.

First infant’s death in city

The sources said the latest death is the first death of an infant in Karachi.

Earlier, two patients with chronic lung and kidney diseases were admitted to the SIDH&RC with mpox.

They died during treatment but their chronic illnesses were recorded as the cause of their deaths.

With the latest death, the total number of mpox deaths recorded this year in Sindh has risen to 12 with 98 cases reported so far.

The sources said nearly all victims were either infants or newborns who contracted the infection from hospital/clinic settings lacking infection control protocols.

In April, an outbreak of mpox, which was earlier restricted to patients with a history of foreign travel, was reported from Khairpur, claiming the lives of at least seven infants. The babies were under treatment in the intensive care units of two hospitals. Investigations showed that these facilities lacked infection control protocols.

The district of Sukkur also saw two infants’ deaths from mpox.

Sources of transmission

According to experts, mpox transmission occurs through close contact with someone who has mpox, contaminated bedding, towels, medical instruments, surfaces or objects.

“People with mpox can spread it to animals or vice versa through close contact. Vertical and perinatal transmission is possible as well. Some people are infectious 1-4 days before getting symptomatic,” said Dr Samreen Sarfaraz, consultant infectious diseases and the Chairperson of Infection Control Services at the Indus Hospital.

Most patients, she said, recover fully within 2-4 weeks without treatment, while some develop complications.

“A patient remains infectious till his or her rashes are completely healed (and a fresh layer of healthy intact skin has formed underneath),” she said.

Prof Faisal Mahmood, senior infectious disease specialist at the Aga Khan University Hospital, said that mpox can spread through the air to a limited extent, but only when lesions or material from lesions are aerosolised.

“This may happen when a sample is taken or when lesions are in or around the airway. Compared with chickenpox, mpox is much less contagious. Chickenpox can spread through the air over a considerable distance and does not require direct contact. The same applies to measles,” he said.

He further added: “Mpox outbreaks can occur where infection prevention and control measures, such as environmental cleaning, are suboptimal, or where people are in close quarters or have significant body-to-body contact.”

It might be recalled that the Sindh Health Care Commission has recently sealed Ibn-i-Hassan Hospital at Malir 15 following a laboratory report confirming an mpox case in an infant, after concerns were identified regarding infection prevention and control practices.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2026