ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s southern Sindh province has reported at least 10 deaths from diphtheria, a long-eliminated infectious disease, over the last two months, local media reported, amid warnings about the spread of waterborne diseases in flood-affected areas. 

Diphtheria is a highly contagious disease caused by strains of bacteria called ‘corynebacterium diphtheriae’ that make toxins in a person’s body, according to infectious disease experts. It can lead to difficulty in breathing, heart problems, and even death. 

In Sindh, health experts fear the number of deaths due to the vaccine-preventable disease, has vanished from most parts of the world, could be much higher than the official figures. 

“So far 10 children have lost their lives due to diphtheria in Sindh while 39 cases have been confirmed in the province,” Pakistani English-language daily The News reported, citing Dr. Irshad Memon, project director of the Sindh Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI). 

Dr. Asad Ali, a senior paediatric infectious disease expert, said that the outbreak of the disease was being reported in Karachi and elsewhere in the province. 

The number of deaths due to the vaccine-preventable disease could be five times higher than the official figures, he said. 

“We need outbreak investigation, higher rates of routine childhood immunization and additional booster Diphtheria-Pertussis-Tetanus (DPT) vaccine in our EPI program,” Dr. Ali, who is the associate dean of research at the Aga Khan University, was quoted as saying in the report. 

Most countries had eliminated diphtheria by giving booster doses of the DPT vaccine to children in the later stage of their childhood, but no booster doses were administered in Pakistan which was why the disease was affecting children with weak immunity, the expert said. 

The report quoted another senior paediatrician, Professor Jamal Raza, who said Pakistan’s immunization coverage was not very good and it was less than the officially stated 70 percent reach. 

Several health officials and infectious disease experts in Karachi and Hyderabad said diphtheria cases were now being reported as a matter of routine, but due to lack of experience and knowledge of general practitioners, these cases were being referred to specialized hospitals quite late, when the disease progressed to an incurable stage, according to the report. 

“We are seeing diphtheria cases on and off at our facility and at the moment, we have a girl in serious condition at our intensive care unit,” said Dr. Abdul Wahid Rajput, medical superintendent of Sindh Infectious Diseases Hospital. 

“If a patient is referred late, even given anti-toxin proves ineffective and chances of survival become difficult.”