Mpox in Sindh: 7 Hospitalised as Tally Hits 98Health

The two infants, both under two months old, had been circumcised at the same Malir hospital — the Ibn-i-Hassan Hospital at Malir 15 — which the Sindh Healthcare Commission (SHCC) has since sealed, following a laboratory report confirming an mpox case in one of the infants and concerns over infection prevention and control practices.

Among the inpatients is also an employee of the SIDH&RC who worked in the hospital’s food supply and distribution service and is suspected to have contracted the infection inside the facility. Two other patients worked at the fruit and vegetable market on Superhighway, pointing to possible community-level transmission.

The patients, including two women, are residents of Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Sachal Goth, Landhi, Saudabad and other neighbourhoods of the city. With the latest admissions, the number of mpox cases treated at the SIDH&RC this year has reached 29.

The provincial tally now stands at 98 cases with 11 deaths recorded this year, according to data released by the Provincial Disease Surveillance and Response Unit. The Express Tribune reported that seven cases were detected within a single week, and the health department has stepped up contact tracing and surveillance.

In response, the provincial health department said the government had strengthened surveillance, contact tracing and case management, and directed health facilities to strictly implement infection-control measures and use personal protective equipment where indicated. Officials maintained there was no need for “undue” concern and that the situation was being managed through established public health protocols.

The department urged the public to maintain good hand hygiene, exercise caution in crowded places — particularly health facilities — and avoid direct contact with the skin lesions, rashes or personal belongings of suspected or confirmed cases. It described mpox as “a preventable and manageable public health concern”, and advised anyone developing an unusual rash or blisters to seek prompt medical assessment and avoid close contact with others until evaluated.

The latest hospitalisations follow an earlier outbreak in April in Khairpur, where the virus — previously restricted to patients with a history of foreign travel — was reported locally, claiming the lives of several newborns who were under treatment in the intensive care units of two hospitals, reportedly due to a lack of infection-control measures.