With the advent of winters in the country, health experts alert masses of possible viral and bacterial respiratory infections one of the most common forms of which is Pneumonia, marking World Pneumonia Day on Thursday. The provincial health minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho warned on Thursday pneumonia spreads rapidly in winters and laid out an alarming number of this infection afflicting up to 187,000 people just last month, as reported. Sindh health minister Azra Pechuho said the most likely victims of this infection are children whose cases topped the reported infections.a She said if not timely treated, Pneumonia could prove fatal and said vaccination to prevent the respiratory infection is available in the province which is administered in three phases. Expressing concerns over growing number of COVID-19 cases in Sindh as well as mortalities due to the viral infection, Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho said people are not only endangering their own lives due to their carelessness but also putting the lives of healthcare workers and staff in danger as they have been risking their lives while treating patients of Covid-19. “Covid-19 cases are on the rise in Sindh. This is because either people are not wearing masks at all or they are wearing them improperly. People need to take pandemic seriously and save their own and others’ lives by adopting all the SOPs,” Dr Azra said in an emergency video message on Wednesday evening. As many as 14 people lost their lives in the province while 720 new cases in the last 24 hours, officials said, adding that most of the deaths were reported from hospitals in Karachi while a majority of the cases were also being reported from the megacity.
