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Ten children succumb to pneumonia in 24 hours in Punjab


Pneumonia claims lives of ten children in Punjab

LAHORE: Pneumonia has claimed lives of ten more children on Saturday in Punjab, bringing the total number of deaths in January alone to 172.

According to the Punjab Heath Department, a staggering 668 cases of pneumonia in children have been reported on Saturday alone. This brings the total number of cases in Pakistan’s largest province to 7,700.

The Caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab Mohsin Naqvi announced the extension in winter vacations for students of class prep and nursery on January 10 after 36 children died because of pneumonia in first ten days of January,

Read more: Pneumonia on rise in Lahore: 19 deaths reported in one week

The high number of cases has also led to extreme shortages of medicine in Lahore. Pneumonia vaccines along with drugs such as ‘Influ Week’ are out of stock in local pharmacies. This has led to a sharp hike in prices of the critical medicines.

The health ministry had to step in to prevent drug hoarding and artificial increase in prices.

The Punjab Health Department has also issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to minimise the spread of the disease. Parents have been encouraged to complete immunisation of their young children. Likewise, the health department has advised unnecessary travel outside.

Punjab is not the only province grappling with the disease. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, more than 93,000 children under the age of five contracted pneumonia in December 2023 alone.

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