Dengue death toll at 18 in Delhi; Total cases 825

New Delhi, Oct 7 (UNI) Delhi continued to remain in the grip of dengue as the total number of reported cases increased to 825 and the death toll rose to 18 with one more patient succumbing to the viral disease in AIIMS today.

Officials said of the total cases reported till 1000 hrs this morning 556 are from Delhi and the rest from outside.

Forty-two-year-old Usman Ghani, from Delhi's Gandhinagar area, died due to dengue fever at about 0430 hrs, doctors said.

In AIIMS, 44 more dengue patients, including five from the institute, were admitted in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 144.

Of the total number of dengue cases in AIIMS, 32 are from within the campus. Thirteen patients were discharged from the hospital in the last 24 hours.

More than 5,500 patients have been screened at the AIIMS emergency OPD since Tuesday.

The condition of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's two grandsons --Rohan and Madhav-- and son-in-law is stable.

''They are doing very well and their condition is stable.

They will be discharged in a day or two,'' AIIMS spokesperson Shakti Gupta said.

Only emergency patients are being admitted in the institute as the hospital is struggling to keep pace with a deluge of dengue patients.

''Only those patients who need emergency medical attention are being admitted. We are facing a severe manpower and resource crunch.... Dengue patients are pouring in from all over in AIIMS but the institute does not have infrastructure to deal with this situation,'' said Dr Anil Sharma, member of the Resident Doctors' Association.

He said the Union Health Ministry must ensure that other hospitals in the city are also pressed into service to handle the dengue deluge.

''Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss is not aware about the ground situation.... Dengue should be declared an epidemic. We will get more resources then. We are running shot of blood and platelets,'' he added.

AIIMS has launched a 24-hour helpline to create awareness about the disease.

The worst affected areas from dengue are Najafgarh, Central Zone, Shahdra (North) and Karol Bagh, which have reported 72, 69, 68 and 49 cases respectively.

About 130 students and resident doctors from AIIMS have submitted a memorandum to AIIMS Director P Venugopal, alleging failure of the administration to check mosquito breeding in the campus.

The memorandum alleged that the death of AIIMS student Raj Kiran was due to the negligence of the management.

''Neither is the death of Raj Kiran or affliction of so many students with dengue a matter of chance. The outbreak of dengue at AIIMS has become an annual affair,'' it said.

Raj Kiran, a seventh semester MBBS student died after suffering from haemorrhagic fever on September 30.

Progressive Medicos and Scientists' Forum spokesperson Dr Vikas Bajpai alleged that AIIMS management's ''callousness had led to the situation in the Institute''.

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