Dengue-type fever has killed a police constable on Sunday night and now the virus has infected more than a dozen people here, out of six are under treatment in Amritsar.
Pardeep Kumar, 22, of Tibba Bazar had died of suspected dengue fever a few days ago and police constable Sukhdev Singh of Talwandi Barth had died at a private hospital in Amritsar. On Tuesday alone, more than six patients with symptoms were admitted to the Batala Civil Hospital.
Shubham and Chander Shekhar of Harnam Nagar; Manpreet Singh of Thathari Mohalla; Ramandeep, a woman from Gandhi Camp; and Sajan of Sonian Mohalla are among the new patients.
Brothers Munish Kumar and Ram Parkash of Harnam Nagar, and Manpreet Singh and Sonali of Chakri Bazar are under private treatment in Amritsar. The symptoms came out in the city about 10 days ago. Patients experience severe body ache and drop in the platelet count, which may leads to brain haemorrhage.
The streets here are waterlogged and covered with garbage for the past three months, inviting infections. Many social organisations and NGOs had requested the civic authorities to take preventive measures.
{{/usCountry}}The streets here are waterlogged and covered with garbage for the past three months, inviting infections. Many social organisations and NGOs had requested the civic authorities to take preventive measures.
{{/usCountry}}Senior medical officer Dr Sukhdeep Singh denied there was any dengue fever in the city. "It just a viral fever in which the platelet count falls coincidentally," he said. Most private hospitals where patients are under treatment have confirmed it to be dengue-type virus transmitted by a special strain of mosquito that breeds in garbage and standing water.
Local legislator Ashwani Sekhri of the Congress has accused the MC and the health department of negligence and threatened an agitation over the issue.