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Chikungunya is taking its toll in Delhi, with at least five deaths due to the vector-borne disease reported in the last two days, including one on Tuesday in the national capital where its number of cases have climbed to over 1,000 this season.
Prakash Kalra of Mathura died of the disease on Tuesday at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, where three other elderly men succumbed to it on Monday.
"He 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," hospital authorities said.
Death of a 22-year-old girl from chikungunya at the Hindu Rao Hospital was also reported on Tuesday. She had died on September 1, officials said.
Two of the three deaths that took place yesterday at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, were reported on Tuesday as well.
Ramendra Pandey, 65, on Monday had died of chikungunya at the same hospital, in what could be the first such death in the national capital.
Dr B S Rana, Chairman, Board of Management of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said in all the four deaths which have taken place, the victims were elderly.
"Uday Shanker, 61, of Dwarka was admitted on September 11 and he died on September 12. His RT-PCR test for chikungunya had come positive. He had come to our OPD and then admitted.
"Ashok Chauhan, 62, from Aligarh also died of chikungunya yesterday. He too was admitted in ICU on September 11 and his RT-PCR test came positive," hospital 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, Isha of Kabir Nagar area, died at Hindu Rao Hospital, one of the biggest municipal hospitals in Delhi, due to "complications triggered by chikungunya".
"She was admitted on August 26 at the hospital. Her chikungunya test had come positive. She died due to cardiac arrest triggered by complications from chikungunya," a senior doctor at the Hindu Rao Hospital said.
Pandey, who was referred to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital from a Ghaziabad hospital, had succumbed to the disease at the hospital at 4 am after suffering chikungunya with sepsis.
Incidentally, one suspected chikungunya death has also been reported at the AIIMS, but hospital authorities are yet to confirm it. According to reports, the "chikungunya death" at the AIIMS took place sometime in September.
Chikungunya cases in the national capital have sharply risen to over 1,000 this season, marking a jump of nearly 90 per cent from its count last week.
According to a municipal report released on Monday, at least 1,057 cases of this vector-borne disease have been recorded till September 10, however, hospitals in the city altogether are reporting much higher number.
Lalit Dar of Department of Microbiology at AIIMS said, "At our laboratories, 1,360 chikungunya blood test samples have tested positive till September 11."
Union Health Minister J P Nadda on Tuesday stressed on the need for close coordination between the Centre and states to deal with the outbreak of chikungunya and dengue, which have affected about 40,000 people in the country, even as he said there was no need to panic.
He assured all help to states in fighting the spread of vector-borne diseases and said it should not be an issue for indulging in blame game.
"We will try to fulfill all requirements. Whether it is dengue or chikungunya, we should not panic. There is a need to give symptomatic treatment. There is a need to take a lot of liquid.
"We are ready to offer all help to state governments. This is not an issue for the Centre and states to indulge in blame game. We should work together," Nadda said.
Sixty people have died across the country due to dengue. Four people have died in Delhi due to Chikungunya.
However, a senior health ministry official said the chikungunya deaths are being probed by its agencies to ascertain the exact reasons.
Nadda said that his ministry had recently held a meeting with Delhi health minister and various municipal agencies and directed them to follow all protocols while various other issues like providing guidelines, arrangement of beds, training of doctors have been provided.
He said the ministry has also put a cap on rates charged by various testing facilities for the diseases while all technical support has been provided to the states to deal with the situation.
As per the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, around 27,879 cases of dengue have been reported across the country and 60 people have succumbed to the disease till August 31.