A report based on data collected from 87 district health offices in as many districts in September

ISLAMABAD, December 13, 2012: Gastroenteritis cases registered a sharp increase of 63% in September – an average 3,520 incidents reported in each district compared with 2,166 in the preceding month, a Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) reports says.

The report released on Thursday said diarrhea and dysentery increased 18% – from 5,243 cases per district in August to 6,163 during the reporting month. 

FAFEN monitors who visited 87 district health offices in as many districts reported a 4% rise in the overall cases of disease with 2,400,052 being registered in September. The comparative August figures were 2,435,833 cases in 92 districts.

Half of the total disease burden comprised Respiratory Tract Infections which increased 32%. The reporting period saw 1,164,715 such cases in 83 districts. The previous month’s figures were 936,385 cases across 88 districts.

Scabies also recoded a 10% increase, constituting 12% of the total disease burden. Animal bites shot up too – 11,859 cases reported – 89% dog bites registered in 71 districts and 11% snake bites across 58 districts.

Hepatitis that constituted 93% of the 3,149 viral disease cases recorded a 29% increase compared with August. The highest reporting districts were Gujranwala (888) and Gujrat (713).

Besides, 17 districts had 184 cases of measles.

Moreover, two districts reported 32 cases of suspected AIDS – Gujrat (19) and Sargodha (13) while out of 19 probable poliomyelitis cases, Karachi had 18 and Tharparkar one.

FAFEN health monitors observed only dengue and malaria among diseases transmitted through mosquitoes. Twenty districts had 3,322 malaria cases Thatta and Nowshehra (531 each) reporting most of these. However, only one case of dengue was reported in Shikarpur – down from August’s five cases in three districts.

As for bacterial disease, of the 2,068 cases, 2,051 were those of tuberculosis registered in 30 districts – a slight increase of 3% per district. Four districts had 17 tetanus cases.

Nine of the 10 districts that reported the most cases were in Punjab and one in Sindh with Faisalabad (8%), Bahawalpur (6%) and Gujranwala (4%) the highest reporting districts.

The maternal mortality cases decreased 43% – 145 recorded in 33 districts. The number of cases in August was 239 in 37 districts. However, infant mortality went up 19% – 2,222 cases in 36 districts compared with 2,033 reported across 39 districts last month.

Similarly, child mortality also increased 3% – 12 districts reporting 424 cases, up from 402 in 12 districts.