11-year-old first dengue victim of 2017 in Mumbai

Mumbai city news: The Class 6 student’s school principal said the boy took ill last week and was hospitalised on Saturday

An 11-year-old boy from Santacruz died of suspected dengue at a city hospital on Tuesday. This would be the first dengue death in the city so far this year.

Dengue is a vector borne disease caused by the aedes aegypti mosquito found breeding in stagnant water.

Civic officials didn’t confirm the case and Surya Hospital refused to comment when HT contacted them.

On Wednesday evening, his school principal posted about the boy’s death on a social networking site. “Today we lost a dear student of Grade 6 to dengue. The sad news has left all of us shaken. Our sincerest condolences to the grieving family for whom this loss is irreparable…Such a thin thread with which we hold on to life. Any time it can snap,” it read.

The principal said the boy took ill last week and was hospitalised on Saturday. His older brother, studying in Class 12 in the same school, was on an exchange programme in Japan along with the principal.

“He was showing signs of recovery, but his body couldn’t handle it and on Tuesday he passed away owing to a rare case of dengue shock,” said the principal. The teachers had visited him in hospital on Monday.

The incident has alerted the school to the dangers of untreated, stagnant pools of water, which are a breeding grounds for mosquitoes. “We are sure that the boy was not infected in the school because we are on a break till Friday, but we want to spread awareness about hygiene so that parents become vigilant,” said the principal. The school also plans to get their premises defogged.

Last year, at least five dengue deaths were reported in the city.