Infant dies of mpox in Karachi as Sindh toll reaches 12

A 52-day-old baby boy has died of mpox in Karachi, the first infant death from the virus in the city, Dawn reports, taking Sindh’s death toll from the infection this year to 12.

The infant died early on Saturday morning at the Sindh Infectious Diseases Hospital and Research Centre (SIDH&RC), where he had been under treatment for at least 10 days. Sources told Dawn he had reportedly contracted the infection during circumcision performed at an “illegal” hospital in Malir.

The Sindh Healthcare Commission (SHCC) has sealed Ibn-e-Hassan Hospital at Malir 15. The commission said the infant contracted mpox after circumcision was performed using contaminated scissors at the facility, and that its inspection found the hospital operating illegally, with unqualified staff and inadequate infection prevention and control measures, Arab News reported.

The hospital’s medical superintendent, Dr Abdul Wahid Rajput, told Arab News the cause of death was mpox. He said the child, a Malir resident, had undergone circumcision at the hospital when he was 20 days old and developed symptoms four days later.

Dawn reported that another infant patient with mpox remained in critical condition, and that at least seven patients, including a SIDH&RC worker, were under treatment for mpox at the facility. Sindh has recorded 98 mpox cases so far this year.

Sources: Dawn, Arab News.