2 more dengue deaths, 61 new cases in Delhi

The latest victim was 55-year-old Riyaz from Uttar Pradesh who died at AIIMS in the early hours of Thursday.

Two more dengue deaths were reported in the capital on Thursday and 61 new patients were admitted to hospitals, with the viral disease giving no breather to citizens, doctors and civic authorities.

HT Image

The latest victim was 55-year-old Riyaz from Uttar Pradesh who died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the early hours of Thursday.

"He died due to multiple organ failure. The patient was in a state of shock because of the illness," said DK Sharma, medical superintendent of AIIMS.

The second victim also died in AIIMS. Hospital authorities said Yashpal, 32, a resident of southwest Delhi, was brought to the hospital on October 17 in a very serious condition.

"His platelet count had been dipping ever since he was admitted. He too died of multiple organ failure," said Sharma, adding that 53 more people were admitted in the hospital in the 24 hours ending on Thursday morning.

With the deaths of Riyaz and Yashpal, the capital's dengue death count has gone up to 37.

"We are taking care of 180 patients at present," said Sharma. He added that another 150 patients were under observation, indicating that there was a chance that the numbers could go up.

With the situation deteriorating by the day, health officials in the capital maintained that despite their best efforts the view was that the outbreak could be controlled only by mid-November.

"We are trying our best, but we think the virus would be controlled only in mid-November, which is the normal pattern every year," said DS Negi, health secretary, Delhi.

The spread of the dengue virus continued across India too, with the total number of affected people going up to 6,484 and the death toll increasing to 109.

Health officials said they were planning to intensify the awareness campaign so that people could take precautionary measures and help control the virus.

The dengue virus is spread by the bite of the female Aedes Aegypti mosquito that breeds in stagnant water. The disease is marked by high fever, skin rashes and pain in the joints. A sharp drop in the patient's blood platelet count can prove fatal.

There was more bad news with two new cases of chikungunya also reported in the country, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 1,653 while the number of suspected cases has crossed 1.3 million.

The maximum number of confirmed chikungunya cases were reported from Maharashtra (679) followed by Karnataka (294), Andhra Pradesh (248), Gujarat (160), Tamil Nadu (111), Madhya Pradesh (62), Kerala (38), Delhi (28), Rajasthan (24) and Pondicherry (9).