A 52-day-old boy receiving treatment for mpox dies in Karachi — Dawn

A 52-day-old boy died in Karachi, Pakistan, after receiving treatment for mpox for more than a week at the Sindh Infectious Diseases Hospital & Research Centre. This is the first infant death from this viral infection in the city, Dawn reports.

According to the publication's sources, the child may have been infected during a circumcision performed at a hospital in the Malir district. The medical facility was later sealed by the Sindh Healthcare Commission over concerns about failure to comply with infection-control measures.

Another infant in critical condition

A doctor at the medical facility, who spoke to journalists anonymously, said that another infant with mpox is in critical condition. According to information obtained from the parents, this child also underwent circumcision at a hospital in Malir.

As Dawn writes, at least seven patients with mpox are being treated at the Sindh Infectious Diseases Hospital & Research Centre, including a hospital employee who was likely infected at work. All of them are residents of Karachi. The patients also include two workers from the fruit and vegetable market on Super Highway and a woman who reportedly contracted the infection from her husband.

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98 cases in Sindh this year

Following the boy's death, the number of mpox deaths recorded this year in Sindh province rose to 12, while the number of detected cases reached 98. The publication's sources say that nearly all those who died were infants or newborns who became infected in hospitals or clinics without proper infection-control protocols.

In April, an mpox outbreak was recorded in the Khairpur district, where at least seven infants died. An investigation found that the two hospitals where they were in intensive care units lacked adequate infection-control measures. Two more infant deaths from mpox were recorded in Sukkur district.

Experts note that mpox is transmitted through close contact with an infected person, as well as through contaminated bedding, towels, medical instruments, surfaces and objects. Most patients recover within two to four weeks, but the infection can cause complications.