BHUBANESWAR: In the midst of Covid-19 pandemic, dengue has reared its ugly head with the alleged death of a retired police official at a private hospital in the city on Thursday. Sources said former Additional DCP Sudarshan Sethi succumbed to the disease while undergoing treatment. He was rushed to the hospital after suffering from high fever and had tested positive for dengue a couple of days back.
Health authorities, however, refused to admit that Sethi died of dengue. Director of Public Health Dr Niranjan Mishra said the patient had not undergone ELISA test, which is used for the qualitative detection of dengue virus IgM antibodies.
“Preliminary reports suggest a card test was conducted on the patient and it is not foolproof. Several cards are available in the market and the test results of many of them are not clinically correct. The hospital has mentioned his cause of death as multi-organ failure,” he said.
The locals alleged that BMC was showing lackadaisical attitude as no fogging, mosquito oil spraying and cleanliness drive has been initiated despite several requests. Bhubaneswar Mayor Sulochana Das visited the affected localities to take stock of the situation. She assured that steps are being taken for source reduction to prevent the spread of the disease.