Bihar youth fifth victim of dengue in city

New Delhi, Aug 29: An 18-year-old youth today died due to dengue at a private hospital in south Delhi, taking the number of fatalities from the vector-borne disease in the national capital to five.

The victim, Asad Iqbal, a native of Bihar succumbed to the deadly disease this morning at Apollo Hospital in Sarita Vihar.

He was living in the city to pursue his higher education. Sources at the hospital said, he died at around 7 AM.

This is the third dengue death reported in south Delhi. "He was brought to the hospital in a critical state on August 26. He was earlier admitted to some private hospital in south Delhi area and was later referred to Apollo Hospital. He died this morning of dengue shock," the source said.

They said the young student was already diagnosed with dengue before getting admitted to the hospital. "His blood pressure was very low and he was put on ventilator in an ICU," the source said. Iqbal is the fifth victim of dengue this season in Delhi.

According to a municipal report, the total number of cases of the vector-borne disease has climbed to over 310 this year till the first three weeks of August. Out of the total cases reported this season in the national capital, nearly 192 were recorded in the first three weeks of August.

12-year-old Muskan, a resident of Shaheen Bagh here had died on July 29 while 19-year-old Deepak, from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh succumbed to the disease on July 27, both at Safdarjung Hospital. The civic bodies, however, have only acknowledged these two death cases so far.

This year, dengue cases have been reported rather early. The vector-borne disease had claimed its first victim on July 21 when a girl from Jafrabad in northeast Delhi died at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital.

Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan’s sister-in-law had also died of dengue on August 12 at the Apollo Hospital.

Doctors have advised patients and public in general to keep themselves adequately hydrated and not resort to self-medication, and also go for blood tests, before rushing to get admitted in hospitals. "Only in severe cases should they go for hospitalization.

Also, it is extremely important to note that platelet transfusion is only needed in dengue cases where the platelet count is less than 10,000, and there is active bleeding. "Unnecessary platelet count can cause more harm than good.

Adequate hydration is the best management approach to dengue while monitoring crucial signs," said Dr K K Aggarwal, Secretary General, Indian Medical Association.

PTI