MADURAI: Dengue has claimed the lives of two children in different hospitals in Madurai, even as a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee and his son living in the Sevalur refugee camp tested positive and were admitted to the GRH here on Wednesday.
Sources at the GRH said two and a half-year-old Alif Maya of Francis Nagar, Pamban, died of dengue on way to the GRH on Wednesday. Besides, an 11-year-old boy from Valukkalotti village in Virudhunagar District too died at a private hosptial in Madurai, according to health authorities. The doctors at the GRH suspected that Navabalachandran (46) and his son Rangaraj (8), from the Sevalur refugee camp, could have been infected during their recent visit to Kadaiyanallur in Tirunelveli district.
In the past two weeks, three children have died due to dengue in Virudhunagar, Madurai and Theni districts. Seventeen fresh cases were reported from Dindigul.
While the Tirunelveli district administration has released the names of the 28 persons who died due to dengue in the district, official sources claimed that dengue deaths in the southern districts could be around 40. “The officials should also take into the account deaths in private hospitals,” added the source.
Meanwhile, the respective departments in all the affected districts have swung into action to prevent the spread of the disease. Tirunelveli district administration organised fogging in all the schools in the district while Theni district collector K S Palanisamy directed health officials to conduct a mass sanitation drive in crowded zones, including bus stations and Theni Government Medical College and Hospital, on Thursday.