Karachi: At least three children in upper Sindh have been confirmed infected with Mpox after laboratory testing by both Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) and Aga Khan University (AKU), validating fears of an emerging outbreak in Khairpur and raising serious concerns about infection control failures at healthcare facilities.
“Both the DUHS and AKU labs have confirmed that three of the eight samples they received from Khairpur were positive for Mpox,” a senior Sindh health department official told vitalsnews.com, adding that the confirmation came after samples were tested independently at the two laboratories.
According to officials, at least nine children had been identified with strong clinical suspicion of Mpox in Khairpur and surrounding areas over the past days. Eight samples were initially sent to Dow University in Karachi, which confirmed the presence of the virus and reported it to provincial authorities.
However, seeking reconfirmation, the same samples were subsequently tested at Aga Khan University’s laboratory, which also detected Mpox infection in three cases.
The confirmation has intensified concerns among health experts, particularly after initial attempts by provincial authorities were perceived as downplaying the situation despite increasing clinical evidence of an outbreak among children.
Govt, private NICUs spread Mpox
Investigations by officials of the Sindh Healthcare Commission have pointed to alarming lapses in infection prevention and control at both public and private healthcare facilities in Khairpur as a likely source of transmission.
Officials said a private pediatric facility, Shahani Medical Center, and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Khairpur Medical College are suspected to be key sites where the infection may have spread among children.
“Apparently, a child with Mpox was brought to one of these facilities and placed in an incubator. The same incubator was later used for other children without proper sterilization, leading to transmission of the virus,” an official involved in the investigation said.
He added that movement of infected children between the two facilities may have further facilitated spread of the virus, exposing more vulnerable patients in neonatal units.
Following these findings, teams from the Sindh health department and regulatory authorities visited both facilities, temporarily closed their NICUs and carried out disinfection procedures. Surveillance teams are now inspecting other pediatric centres in the region and implementing infection prevention and control measures.
Health officials warned that poor infection control practices are increasingly emerging as a major driver of infectious disease outbreaks in Pakistan, particularly in Sindh.
“Such lapses have already contributed to HIV outbreaks among children in the province, and now similar negligence appears to be behind the Mpox cases in Khairpur,” the official said.
Authorities have launched contact tracing of confirmed and suspected cases, monitoring children and their families for symptoms. With an incubation period of up to 21 days, officials cautioned that asymptomatic transmission to adults cannot be ruled out.
Provincial officials said teams from the World Health Organization, Unicef, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and local administration are assisting in investigating and containing the outbreak, while claiming that timely intervention by the Sindh health department helped limit further spread.
However, federal health authorities and officials at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad have expressed concerns over lack of timely reporting and coordination, warning that gaps in surveillance and information sharing could hamper an effective national response.
Public health experts say the confirmation of Mpox cases among children, combined with evidence of healthcare associated transmission, underscores the urgent need for strict infection control protocols, transparent reporting and coordinated action between provincial and federal health systems to prevent further spread of the virus.
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