52-yr-old is city’s seventh dengue victim this month

Mulund resident K Radhakrishnan, 52, became the seventh Mumbaiite to succumb to the dengue infection in November.

Mulund resident K Radhakrishnan, 52, became the seventh Mumbaiite to succumb to the dengue infection in November.

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He is the 14th dengue victim from the city this year, according to the data collated from government and private hospitals. However, the BMC, which uses an advanced medical test for diagnosis, has confirmed only 10 dengue deaths this year.

A senior cashier at a power utility company, Radhakrishnan was in the ICU of Fortis Hospital at Mulund on November 8.

“He had developed acute respiratory distress syndrome and multi-organ failure secondary to dengue infection,” said Dr S Narayani, facility director at Fortis Hospital, adding that he was brought to the hospital in critical condition.

Doctors said his platelet count had dropped to 20,000 units per microlitre. A healthy individual has a platelet count of 1,50,00 units.

The 52-year-old was initially admitted to Saarthi Nursing Home in Mulund on November 6, after his blood pressure increased and he complained of fever. The next day, his blood reports revealed he had the dengue infection, after which he was moved to Fortis Hospital. “By the time we shifted him, he was already on ventilator support. He just had fever before admission,” said his brother Shriram, “He had diabetes and asthma.”

Radhakrishnan’s family alleged that during his treatment, no civic official visited their home or the building where they reside to screen for Aedes mosquito breeding site.

The civic body claims that pest control officers immediately screen localities, where dengue cases are detected. Also, health workers conduct a door-to-door survey of 500 homes in the vicinity to check for any probable cases.