TIRUPUR, ERODE, NAGAPATTINAM, SALEM: Three persons — two from Tirupur and one from Erode — succumbed to dengue fever in Tirupur and Erode on Sunday.
Arunthathi (13), daughter of Gunasekaran, a businessman from Kannagi Nagar in Dharapuram, was taken to a private hospital in Tirupur after she contracted fever. She was diagnosed with dengue. However, she died without responding to treatment on Sunday.
Kavitha (37), of Shyamal-apuram in Mangalam, was admitted to a private hospital in Sulur with fever on Friday. When her condition became worse, she was moved to the Coimbatore branch of the same hospital, where she died. The death certificate issued by the hospital stated the cause of death as dengue.
According to the district health department, of the 60 fever cases recorded since October 1, 31 were dengue patients.
In Erode, Sandhiya (19), a college student and daughter of farmer Veerakumar of Karukkampalayam near Sivagiri, was admiited to a private hospital after five days of fever. There she died without responding to treatment on Sunday evening. This pushed the district death toll from dengue and viral fever to 29.
A 13-year-old boy, who got admitted to Nagapattinam General Hospital after having symptoms of dengue, died while he was taken for advanced medical treatment to Tiruvarur on Monday.
Doctors said the death was caused by normal fever, while the parents said it was dengue.
Speaking to media, Selvaraj, father of the boy Kingsley, said, “My son fell ill two days ago. Though we checked his condition with local doctors they said that he was affected with fever. So we admitted him to Nagapattinam hospital. Doctors said his blood platelet count was low and told us to take him to Tiruvarur GH.”
Selvaraj further said, “We took him to Tiruvarur in the wee hours of Monday. On the way, he lost consciousness. Later, doctors declared him dead because of normal fever.” “But I disagree. It’s a clear case of dengue death” he added. “As Kingsley’s residence was located in a dirty, unclean locality with many encroachments, he got infected. The Municipality should clear the waste in our area to prevent dengue cases,” said Selvaraj.
Speaking to Express, Selvakumar, deputy director, Health and Family Welfare Department, said, “We have enough number of doctors to deal with dengue. As we are well equipped, we never worry for the number of admissions coming in. We have 58 Primary Health Centres in the district.“Also, there are government GHs in Mayiladuthurai, Nagai, Porayar, Sirkazhi and Vedaranyam, all working round the clock to eradicate dengue.”
Toll reaches 3 in UT
Jasmin Begum, a 12 year old girl died of dengue fever at JIPMER taking the toll to three in the union territory. She was a student of the Kadirgamam govt school.