Two more chikungunya death reported in Delhi, toll 12

New Delhi, Sep 14: The death toll from chikungunya in New Delhi mounted to 12 on Wednesday after two more peopel died at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Earlier five deaths were reported at Apollo Hospital and most of the victims were aged 80 or above. "We have had five deaths in the past three weeks of patients with chikungunya fever, most of whom were elderly. 80-year-old Mahendra Singh from Ghaziabad died of chikungunya complications yesterday afternoon," hospital authorities said.

"He was diagnosed positive for chikungunya through RT-PCR test. He died of multi-organ failure triggered by complications from the disease," they said. Chikungunya is taking its toll in the national capital where the number of cases have climbed to over 1,000 this season and fever clinics are getting swamped with rush of patients.

"Most of them had associated co-morbid disease conditions and complications like chronic kidney disease, coronary artery disease, which affect the course of recovery," the hospital said.

Five deaths from chikungunya were reported till yesterday in the city that is battling a viral onslaught of this disease after nearly 10 years. Four of these deaths took place at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH).

75-year-old Prakash Kalra of Mathura died last evening at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, where three other elderly persons succumbed to the vector-borne disease on Monday. "He (Kalra) was brought to our hospital in a very aggressive stage of disease, having suffered kidney failure. He was admitted yesterday in the ICU and his chikungunya RT-PCR test had come positive," SGRH authorities said.

A 22-year-old girl died of cardiac arrest triggered by chikungunya complications at Hindu Rao Hospital. Isha, from Kabir Nagar, had died on September 1, officials said. 65-year-old Ramendra Pandey, referred to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital from a Ghaziabad hospital, had died of chikungunya with sepsis on Monday.

"Uday Shanker (61) of Dwarka was admitted on September 11 and he died on September 12. And, Ashok Chauhan, 62, from Aligarh also died of chikungunya on Monday. He too was admitted in ICU on September 11 and his RT-PCR test came positive," SGRH authorities said.

Doctors say that chikungunya is not a life-threatening disease in general, but in rare cases leads to complications that prove fatal, especially in children and old persons.

Incidentally, one suspected chikungunya death has also been reported at AIIMS, but hospital authorities are yet to confirm it.

According to reports, the "chikungunya death" at the AIIMS took place sometime in September. According to a municipal report released yesterday, at least 1,057 cases of this vector-borne disease have been recorded till September 10.

PTI