One dies of dengue in Kaithal

Tribune Reporters

Kaithal, September 27

A man, identified as Vijay Seth (39), died of dengue here today. Sonu Seth, brother of the deceased, said Vijay was admitted to a private hospital here after his blood platelets count came down. He was responding to the treatment, but his condition deteriorated last night and he was taken to Columbia Hospital in Patiala. He died today. His other brother, Shiv Kumar Seth, is also reported to be suffering from dengue and is being treated at a private hospital here. Another one-year-old child is also reported to be suffering from dengue in the Chatta Lachman Dass area of the town.

A team of officials from the Kalayat CHC today visited Badsikri Kalan and Badsikri Khurd villages and collected samples. Dr Manish Bansal, CMO, said he had no information about any dengue death. He said 26 patients reported positive but all were treated. He said an isolation ward had been set up in the hospital to treat dengue patients.

Faridabad: With 48 positive cases reported so far, chikungunya has overtaken dengue, the confirmed cases of which are 30. The number of positive cases of malaria has been 110 so far in the district.

Dr Ram Bhagat, District Malaria Officer, said efforts were on to contain the diseases caused by mosquitoes. He said while 14 fogging machines had been made available with the Municipal Corporation, Faridabad (MCF), 10 were being procured to carry out fumigation in rural areas of the district. Health Minister Anil Vij was being updated on the latest data of dengue and chikungunya cases in almost all districts through a group formed by the department on the social media, it is reported.

Though the number of vector-borne diseases has touched the figure of 188, the department officials claim that it is likely to go down with the changein weather in the next couple of weeks.

It is reported that the suspected cases of chikungunya and dengue were around 200 and 225, respectively, and the Health Department had collected more than 67,000 slides for test this year, which was perhaps the highest in the past few years. The total number of dengue and malaria cases in the district last year was 200 and 134, respectively.

“Every fourth or fifth person in the city was a victim of viral infection and majority of them were down with chikungunya,” claimed Varun Sheokand, a social activist who had recently procured four fogging machines to carry out fumigation in the city.

He said the authorities, especially the Municipal Corporation, had failed to ensure cleanliness and fogging in the city.