21-year-old Mumbai girl succumbs to Dengue; don’t ignore that fever | Mumbai news - Hindustan Times
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21-year-old Mumbai girl succumbs to Dengue; don’t ignore that fever

Hindustan Times | ByAayushi Pratap, Mumbai
Sep 22, 2017 08:43 PM IST

Doctors fear a further rise in dengue infections after the recent rain lash in the city.

A 21-year old girl from Santacruz succumbed to dengue hamegorric shock syndrome on September 15 at a Vile-Parle based hospital.

(Picture for representation)
(Picture for representation)

Dengue is a viral infection, transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. They breed in stagnant water.

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Nikita Bathija who had recently graduated in mass media from Jai Hind College, had suddenly started feeling breathless.

Doctors who treated her said that her platelet levels had not decreased so she didn’t require a platelet transfusion, but her liver and kidney function gradually deteriorated. Despite intensive unit care and ventilator support, Bathija succumbed to the infection as a result of multi-organ failure.

“A death because of dengue, at such a young age, is rare but not unheard of,” said Dr Rahul Tambe, internal medicine specialist at Nanavati Hospital, Vile Parle, who treated her.

He added that in just the last month, he has treated some 60 odd cases of dengue in the hospital.

The girl’s friends were shocked to learn about her death. “She was my senior in college and we couldn’t believe that her condition deteriorated so fast,” she said.

Doctors fear a further rise in dengue infections after the recent rain lash in the city. They have advised people to avoid self-medication and visit a doctor in cases where fever lasts for over 48 hours.

Dr Shahid Barmare, general physician at Kohinoor Hospital, Kurla, said in the case of dengue, only the symptoms can be treated, so most patient’s don’t require hospitalisation. “After the rains two days back, the cases will spike again because of the water collection.”

The city’s insecticide department inspected more than 5 lakh households and found 1,974 sites of breeding of aedes mosquitoes, which spread dengue and malaria. Three people in the city died of dengue between September 1 and 15, and 164 cases of dengue and 418 cases of malaria were reported in the city during the same period.

Civic authorities have asked people to not let water get collected inside or near their house, as it may lead to mosquito breeding. “Most breeding sites are found indoors, such as in the flower pots, water collected in buckets and trays,” said a civic official from the insecticide department.

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