Tuesday, October 3 2006 11:06 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: A 22-year-old youth died of dengue in Pune in what is the first instance this year in the city, which has seen a rise in the number of patients suffering from the mosquito-borne disease, health officials said.

Nitesh Devendra died of dengue haemorrhagic fever on Saturday, Dr Rajesh Gadia, in-charge of the dengue project at Pune's KEM Hospital, said on yesterday (Oct 2, 2006).

"Suffering from low blood pressure and breathlessness, Nitesh was admitted to the hospital on Friday and shifted to the ICU when he developed further complications such as acute renal failure and respiratory distress syndrome," he said.

Meanwhile, D D Shetty, Senior Resident Medical Officer (RMO) of the government-run Sassoon General Hospital, said though dengue has not assumed the form of an epidemic in Pune, the existing situation cannot be ignored.

In Delhi however, there are indications that dengue may be declared an epidemic. The patients are increasing by the hour and hospitals are finding it difficult to cope.

Health minister Yoganand Shastri said if the spread of the disease was not controlled in a day or two, then dengue would be declared an epidemic in the city. While ten more patients were confirmed at the AIIMS, the number of patients suffering from dengue has reached 448. The number of deaths has now become 11.

Interestingly, more than 15 hospitals have been served notices for not doing enough to prevent mosquito breeding within their campus. On Monday, the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) said that 27 notices have been issued to AIIMS which has ignored them all.

AIIMS has created a separate fever casualty section for the treatment of dengue. Currently, there are 45 confirmed cases in AIIMS out of which 20 are doctors and staff.

The medical superintendent on Monday issued an appeal that people showing symptoms of the disease should consult local doctors first and not crowd the super-speciality institute. He said that in the past 24 hours, more than a thousand patients have been screened at the AIIMS and it was difficult to admit all of them.



The civic agencies and the Delhi government are now taking the threat of dengue seriously. The Delhi government has deployed an additional 2,400 officials to contain the outbreak by making door-to-door checks in the city. This is in addition to the 3,000-plus workers of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

"We have started random checks at homes, offices and places where there could be stagnant water. We are spraying anti-mosquito drugs," said Delhi municipal health officer NK Yadav.