Surveillance and emergency measures have been heightened in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar after 102 patients, mostly children, were hospitalised over the last two days with authorities attributing the outbreak to contamination of drinking water due to ongoing drainage repair work. Union home minister Amit Shah took stock of the situation on Saturday as medical teams launched door-to-door surveillance in the affected areas.



After Indore, Contaminated Water Spawns Typhoid Outbreak in India's Gandhinagar

North Korea announced that it is dealing with an intestinal sickness outbreak adding to the ongoing Covid-19 strain. Experts suggest that the sickness could be typhoid or cholera. North Korea did not reveal the number of patients in the latest sickness.

North Korea’s new outbreak amid ongoing Covid-19 ‘fever’ cases

3.5 Million children vaccinated in last 4 days in Karachi

Drug-Resistant Typhoid outbreak in Pakistan

Early this year Muhammad Haider Sajjad, a thin bespectacled boy of 15, was hospitalised in Karachi, Pakistan's commercial capital. Doctors suspected typhoid, but when the most common antibiotics failed to work, the boy's family began to panic.

Sajjad is one of more than 11,000 people, mostly children, to have contracted a drug-resistant strain of the infection in the country since 2016, and which experts say risks spreading internationally.

He survived, but hundreds have died, predominantly in the southern province of Sindh.

In response, Pakistan's government, already battling <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pakistan-deploys-new-vaccine-against-superbug-typhoid-outbreak-262349">outbreaks </a>of polio and dengue, has launched a huge foreign-funded vaccination drive that began on Nov 15.

Some 3.4 million children have been vaccinated in the last four days in Karachi and the neighbouring city of Hyderabad where the outbreak was first reported, said James Fulker, a spokesman for GAVI, a Geneva-based partnership funded by the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation that is administering the vaccine.

Kept out of school for three months, Sajjad passed the time by tallying the daily rounds of shots given during his treatment - 84 in all.

"I had not much to do during my illness. I used to keep count of injections I was being given," he said.

The latest strain is resistant to all but one antibiotic used to treat typhoid, a bacterial infection transmitted by human faeces. If it develops resistance to this final antibiotic treatment, disease experts say, death rates among those infected could rise dramatically to as much as 20%.

Hygiene crisis

Sanitation is a major issue in Pakistan, especially in Karachi, a sprawling port city of more than 15 million on the Arabian Sea.

Here, political infighting between two regional parties over refuse collection has seen huge mounds of garbage pile up in the street.

Reuters visited several areas where the vaccine was being administered, predominantly in low-income areas with poor quality, illegal housing.

"Typhoid is a nightmare in countries like Pakistan because the hygienic situation is not good," said Muhammad Khalid Shafi, a paediatrician and associate professor at Dow Medical College in Karachi.

Resistance to immunisation programmes has hampered attempts to stamp out other diseases.

In July, officials working on polio prevention told Reuters that parents suspicious of mass immunization campaigns have been getting hold of special markers, used by health workers to put a coloured spot on the little fingers of children who have been vaccinated.

They said in some areas, as many as 8% of families may be refusing or avoiding vaccination, a level which would mean the disease is not eradicated.

In several areas of Karachi, local mosques make announcements urging parents to get their children vaccinated against typhoid, especially in low-income neighbourhoods.

The costs of refusing vaccination can be steep. The only antibiotic treatment to the latest strain of typhoid is expensive. Sajjad's father, Syed Ahmed Jafer, estimates the cost of his treatment at 400,000 Pakistani rupees ($2,584) - a huge sum for almost any family in the country.

"People should not be afraid of this campaign," he said.

"There is no cheap treatment, it cannot be ignored."

Early this year Muhammad Haider Sajjad, a thin bespectacled boy of 15, was hospitalised in Karachi, Pakistan's commercial capital. Doctors suspected typhoid, but when the most common antibiotics failed to work, the boy's family began to panic.

Early this year Muhammad Haider Sajjad, a thin bespectacled boy of 15, was hospitalised in Karachi, Pakistan's commercial capital. Doctors suspected typhoid, but when the most common antibiotics failed to work, the boy's family began to panic. Sajjad is one of more than 11,000 people, mostly children, to have contracted a drug-resistant strain of the infection in the country since 2016, and which experts say risks spreading internationally. He survived, but hundreds have died, predominantly in the southern province of Sindh. In response, Pakistan's government, already battling outbreaks of polio and dengue, has launched a huge foreign-funded vaccination drive that began on Nov 15. Some 3.4 million children have been vaccinated in the last four days in Karachi and the neighbouring city of Hyderabad where the outbreak was first reported, said James Fulker, a spokesman for GAVI, a Geneva-based partnership funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that is administering the vaccine. Kept out of school for three months, Sajjad passed the time by tallying the daily rounds of shots given during his treatment - 84 in all. "I had not much to do during my illness. I used to keep count of injections I was being given," he said. The latest strain is resistant to all but one antibiotic used to treat typhoid, a bacterial infection transmitted by human faeces. If it develops resistance to this final antibiotic treatment, disease experts say, death rates among those infected could rise dramatically to as much as 20%. Hygiene crisis Sanitation is a major issue in Pakistan, especially in Karachi, a sprawling port city of more than 15 million on the Arabian Sea. Here, political infighting between two regional parties over refuse collection has seen huge mounds of garbage pile up in the street. Reuters visited several areas where the vaccine was being administered, predominantly in low-income areas with poor quality, illegal housing. "Typhoid is a nightmare in countries like Pakistan because the hygienic situation is not good," said Muhammad Khalid Shafi, a paediatrician and associate professor at Dow Medical College in Karachi. Resistance to immunisation programmes has hampered attempts to stamp out other diseases. In July, officials working on polio prevention told Reuters that parents suspicious of mass immunization campaigns have been getting hold of special markers, used by health workers to put a coloured spot on the little fingers of children who have been vaccinated. They said in some areas, as many as 8% of families may be refusing or avoiding vaccination, a level which would mean the disease is not eradicated. In several areas of Karachi, local mosques make announcements urging parents to get their children vaccinated against typhoid, especially in low-income neighbourhoods. The costs of refusing vaccination can be steep. The only antibiotic treatment to the latest strain of typhoid is expensive. Sajjad's father, Syed Ahmed Jafer, estimates the cost of his treatment at 400,000 Pakistani rupees ($2,584) - a huge sum for almost any family in the country. "People should not be afraid of this campaign," he said. "There is no cheap treatment, it cannot be ignored."

Pakistan grapples with drug-resistant typhoid outbreak

Pakistan&nbsp;began vaccinating millions of children&nbsp;against&nbsp;typhoid&nbsp;on Friday to try to control a drug-resistant superbug&nbsp;outbreak&nbsp;of the fever that has already infected some 11,000 people since 2016 and risks spreading internationally.

The immunisation campaign, using a&nbsp;newly-developed shot designed to prevent&nbsp;typhoid&nbsp;fever infection for up to five years, starts in the southern Sindh province and is targeted at children between 9 months and 15 years old, officials said.

By 2021, it will become a nationwide programme and part of routine childhood vaccination schedules.

"Beginning the vaccination in urban areas is critical in preventing the disease among the communities most at risk," Azra Fazal Pechuho, Sindh's provincial minister for health, said in a statement.&nbsp;Typhoid&nbsp;also disproportionately affects children.

Typhoid&nbsp;is caused by Salmonella Typhi bacteria and spreads through contaminated food and water. It causes fever, nausea, stomach pain and pink spots on the chest, and in severe cases can lead to complications in the gut and head that can be fatal.

A Global Burden of Disease Study by the US&nbsp;Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that in 2017 there were 11 million&nbsp;typhoid&nbsp;cases and 116,000&nbsp;typhoid&nbsp;deaths worldwide.

The&nbsp;typhoid&nbsp;outbreak&nbsp;in&nbsp;Pakistan&nbsp;is caused by a bacterial strain that has evolved extensive drug resistance and becomes a so-called "superbug". It started in 2016 and has so far infected around 11,000 people, with a death rate of around 1 per cent.

The strain is resistant to all but one antibiotic used to treat&nbsp;typhoid. If it develops resistance to this final antibiotic treatment, disease experts say, death rates among those infected could rise dramatically to as much as 20 per cent.

The&nbsp;new&nbsp;typhoid&nbsp;vaccine&nbsp;was approved in 2018 by the World Health Organization. Its roll-out is funded by the Geneva-based GAVI&nbsp;vaccine&nbsp;alliance, a body backed by the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, the WHO, the World Bank, UNICEF and others, which arranges bulk buys to lower&nbsp;vaccine&nbsp;costs for poor countries.

"This was a terrifying disease in the past," GAVI's chief executive, Seth Berkley, said in a telephone interview. "(And) the rise of extreme drug-resistant&nbsp;typhoid&nbsp;risks bringing us back to levels of mortality not seen since the 19th century - posing a risk to all of us."

Cases of have already been spread in travellers to&nbsp;Pakistan&nbsp;from the United States, Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark and Taiwan, who have brought the disease to their home countries.

Pakistan began vaccinating millions of children against typhoid on Friday to try to control a drug-resistant superbug outbreak of the fever that has already infected some 11,000 people since 2016 and risks spreading internationally.

Pakistan began vaccinating millions of children against typhoid on Friday to try to control a drug-resistant superbug outbreak of the fever that has already infected some 11,000 people since 2016 and risks spreading internationally. The immunisation campaign, using a newly-developed shot designed to prevent typhoid fever infection for up to five years, starts in the southern Sindh province and is targeted at children between 9 months and 15 years old, officials said. By 2021, it will become a nationwide programme and part of routine childhood vaccination schedules. "Beginning the vaccination in urban areas is critical in preventing the disease among the communities most at risk," Azra Fazal Pechuho, Sindh's provincial minister for health, said in a statement. Typhoid also disproportionately affects children. Typhoid is caused by Salmonella Typhi bacteria and spreads through contaminated food and water. It causes fever, nausea, stomach pain and pink spots on the chest, and in severe cases can lead to complications in the gut and head that can be fatal. A Global Burden of Disease Study by the US Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that in 2017 there were 11 million typhoid cases and 116,000 typhoid deaths worldwide. The typhoid outbreak in Pakistan is caused by a bacterial strain that has evolved extensive drug resistance and becomes a so-called "superbug". It started in 2016 and has so far infected around 11,000 people, with a death rate of around 1 per cent. The strain is resistant to all but one antibiotic used to treat typhoid. If it develops resistance to this final antibiotic treatment, disease experts say, death rates among those infected could rise dramatically to as much as 20 per cent. The new typhoid vaccine was approved in 2018 by the World Health Organization. Its roll-out is funded by the Geneva-based GAVI vaccine alliance, a body backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the WHO, the World Bank, UNICEF and others, which arranges bulk buys to lower vaccine costs for poor countries. "This was a terrifying disease in the past," GAVI's chief executive, Seth Berkley, said in a telephone interview. "(And) the rise of extreme drug-resistant typhoid risks bringing us back to levels of mortality not seen since the 19th century - posing a risk to all of us." Cases of have already been spread in travellers to Pakistan from the United States, Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark and Taiwan, who have brought the disease to their home countries.

Pakistan deploys new vaccine against 'superbug' typhoid outbreak

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