KARACHI: Malaria cases are registering a gradual surge across the province, which has seen over 900 confirmed cases in a single day, official stats showed on Monday.

According to the health department’s data, out of the total 10,033 suspected patients who were screened for malaria in the province on Monday (Aug 24), 916 cases tested positive for the mosquito-borne infection.

Hyderabad division has reported 410 confirmed cases followed by Larkana division (208), Mirpurkhas division (174), Benazirabad division (87), Sukkur division (77) and Karachi division (10).

Information gathered from Karachi-based health practitioners, however, indicated that the numbers of malaria patients in Karachi are much higher.

Over 900 cases reported at health facilities in a single day

Speaking to Dawn, doctors running clinics in different parts of the city shared that while malaria cases are seen almost the whole year, their numbers have increased over the past three weeks.

“Malaria cases are being reported daily these days; sometime their number increases to eight or 10 on a day,” said Dr Imran Sarwar Shaikh, Additional Medical Superintendent and Head of the Emergency Department at Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi, pointing out that all these were vivax malaria cases.

“While there are four human malaria parasites — P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale and P. malariae — we are getting only vivax malaria cases. The reason is disease relapse in many cases as patients do not follow doctor’s advice and stop the treatment as soon as their fever subsides.

“We prescribe a 14-day medicine course to get rid of this malaria completely, which is started soon after the initial medicine doses. Most patients, however, don’t take it once experiencing signs of recovery.”

According to Dr Shaikh, vivax malaria could lead to severe disease and death. “The parasite remains dormant in the liver and gets reactivated a few months later, causing a new infection, if the complete 14-day treatment protocol is not followed.”

Senior general practitioner Dr Altaf Hussain Khatri, also part of the Pakistan Medical Associa­tion, seconded the gradual rise in malaria cases.

“For the past three weeks, malaria cases have increased; around 20 to 25 being reported on a weekly basis. There are also dengue cases but their numbers are few,” he said, linking the disease pattern to ongoing weather conditions and the city’s broken sewerage system.

The experts called for fumigation drives and improved sewerage networks to effectively contain the mosquito population in the city.

In 2025, at least 103 people died from mosquito-borne diseases across Sindh, with 23 of them having lost their lives at a Karachi hospital due to malaria, data gathered from three hospitals in Karachi and one in Hyderabad showed. Of them, 83 patients, including children, data gathered from three hospitals in Karachi and one in Hyderabad showed. Of them, 83 patients, including children, reported at hospitals in Karachi.

The provincial health department’s tally, however, put the death toll from dengue and malaria at 33.

A significant number of these cases were reported from August to November last year.

The Indus Hospital saw a total of 8,883 dengue cases in 2025 with 40 deaths. In addition, a total of 2,719 malaria patients also reported at the facility, which saw 23 deaths from the parasitic disease.

The SIDH&RC saw a total of 941 cases of mosquito-borne illnesses; dengue 651 and malaria 290. The hospital had 14 deaths from dengue fever but no death from malaria.

While comprehensive data couldn’t be gathered from the AKUH, sources said that at least six patients died of dengue between January and October last year.

Sources at the LUH disclosed that 25 patients died of dengue fever at the hospital last year, most of whom were admitted between September and November.

It’s important to highlight a Karachi University study recently published in an international journal, suggesting integration of meteorological data into healthcare surveillance systems to anticipate infectious diseases including malaria.

According to the study, over 982,000 cases of infectious diseases were recorded in three coastal districts of Sindh from 2019 to 2022, with under-five diarrhoea and suspected malaria being the most prevalent.

It found that disease incidence rose with higher temperature, humidity and precipitation in the studied districts.

Thatta district alone reported nearly 30,000 malaria cases in September 2022 following severe monsoon flooding. Malaria peaked 4-6 weeks after monsoon rainfall, while diarrhoea showed dual peaks in March and during monsoon months.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2026