Dengue has claimed its 16th victim in the city with nine-year-old Sabreen Fatima succumbing to the disease at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital. Though official figures still say that just five people have died and over 1,700 tested positive for dengue, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said: “Data collected from 34 hospitals (Central and Delhi government, and MCD) about the number of people admitted in these hospitals in the last 24 hours showed that 2,519 people were admitted with fever and related complaints. Of these, only 281 are dengue cases.”
A senior official at the RML hospital confirmed that the child, who was brought in a serious condition, died due to complications arising out of dengue late on September 15.
“This is the third dengue death at the hospital and we are seeing a large number of people coming in with fever. Those who need to hospitalised are not turned away and are given proper treatment,” said RML spokesperson V.K. Sinha.
Earlier, unconfirmed reports said that four-year-old Neha, a resident of Sangam Vihar, died of dengue at teh Saket City hospital on Wednesday.
Clock Ticking:
| Hindu Rao: 51 |
|---|
| Safdarjung: 22 |
| GTB: 37 |
| Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar: 21 |
| * Confirmed new dengue cases in the past 24 hours. |
Her parents have said that the child could have been saved had hospitals given her proper treatment.
With children seemingly the worst hit this season, Dr. Manoj Sharma at the Rockland Hospital said: “Children have access to open areas like playgrounds and schools where they are exposed to mosquitoes. Low immunity is the primary cause of the spread of dengue among children. They rapid lose a lot of water and fluids after a dengue attack, which is another cause of death.”
Stating that dengue in infants and children usually starts with symptoms of a viral illness such as fever, running nose, cough and a mild skin rash, Dr. Rajesh Budhiraja at the Asian Institute of Medical Science said: “Older children usually have symptoms like adults, which includes high fever, pain behind the eyes and in joints, headaches, and skin rash. Children with a history of wheezing and asthma should protect themselves with necessary preventive inhalers.”
To tide over the acute bed crunch the city is facing in the wake of the rising dengue cases, the State Health department has issued directions to bring in 600 new beds at three hospitals, which are not-yet fully functional, in Janakpuri, Ashok Vihar and Tahirpur areas for fever and vector-borne disease patients.
Continuing the blame game, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has accused the BJP-ruled civic bodies of “total failure” in containing the spread of the disease.
Advocate Ashok Aggarwal, a member of the EWS Monitoring Committee said: “Thursday saw the highest percentage of EWS bed occupancy — 85 per cent — for the first time since 2002. This can be attributed to pressure form the Delhi government to take in patients.”
