Previously less common dengue serotype causing severe disease in Karachi this year: experts

KARACHI: Around 85 per cent of the dengue cases being reported from different parts of Karachi in the current outbreak of mosquito-borne disease are of ‘DEN-1’ serotype of the dengue virus causing more severe disease to patients compared to last year when over 80 per cent cases were of ‘DEN-2’, researchers at the International Centre for Chemical and Biological Center (ICCBS), University of Karachi, have claimed.

“Of the 152 virus samples collected from different hospitals of Karachi, we analysed 60 and found that 47 of them were of the DEN-1 serotype of the dengue virus. In these patients, we have seen more severe disease compared to those infected with ‘DEN-2’ which was prevalent last year in Karachi,” said Faaria Tariq, a researcher at the ICCBS, while presenting her study at a scientific conference on Friday.

Karachi has been witnessing one of the worst dengue outbreaks in its history this year following unprecedented rains during the monsoon season as daily hundreds of dengue cases are being reported from different parts of the city.

The ICCBS researcher explained that they had observed that the decline in the number of platelets in patients infected with the DEN-1 serotype of the dengue virus was more rapid compared to patients who had been infected with the DEN-2 serotype.

She added that they had also found that four of the 60 patients, who were infected with the DEN-3 serotype of the dengue virus had the severest disease with their platelets dropping below 20,000.

Experts at other health research institutions, including the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) and Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), however, said they had not seen the cases of the DEN-1 serotype among the dengue patients but added a broader study needed to be conducted to ascertain the dynamics of dengue in Karachi and other parts of the country.

Meanwhile, the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, has claimed that both the DEN-1 and DEN-2 serotypes are prevalent in the country but this is not something unusual that should be a cause of concern.

The health authorities in Sindh on Friday said one more person in the province had died due to dengue. The person was admitted to the Liaquat University Hospital Hyderabad.

A total of 309 more cases of dengue fever were also reported from the entire province during the last 24 hours.

As per the official data, in the dengue outbreak so far, 31 people have lost their lives due to the viral disease in Sindh, of whom 30 passed away in Karachi. A total of 4,628 people tested positive for dengue in the province, of whom 4,061 belonged to Karachi.