TENKASI: Three more patients, aged 5, 9, and 17 years, from Kasinathapuram village in Tenkasi district were admitted to the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital (TvMCH) for treating suspected dengue on Thursday.Around 15 other people from the village are already undergoing treatment for dengue fever at TvMCH, Government District Headquarters Hospital (GHQH) in Tenkasi, and Government Hospital (GH) in Alangulam.
According to sources, for the past 15 days, nearly 50 people of Kasinathapuram suffered from fever, and many tested positive for dengue. Two of these dengue-positive patients — six-year-old Poomika and eight-year-old Supriya -- died at TvMCH on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. The health staff, including doctors, health inspectors, and sanitary workers of the Rural Development Department held a camp in the village to provide medical aid to the residents and eliminate the mosquito-breeding sources, sources added.
Meanwhile, the parents of Supriya alleged that their child could have been saved if the doctors at Alangulam GH had treated her in the initial stage of the disease. "When we took Supriya to the GH on May 26 for the first time, the doctors sent us back after recommending some tablets. As her health deteriorated, we took her to GH the next day again. Even then, they did not admit her. On the third day, we took her to a private hospital where the doctors observed that her platelet count was dangerously low. Supriya died on Wednesday at TvMCH," they said.
However, the Chief Medical Officer of Alangulam GH Dr Muthulakshmi said Supriya was brought to the hospital only on June 2 as per the hospital records.
"We normally do not take blood tests on the first day of treatment. However, we tested her blood sample on the same day and her platelet count was 3.25 lakh. She was again brought here on June 6. At that time, she had a platelet count of only 73,000,” she added.
Two Kasinathapuram residents, aged 16 and 37 years, are now under treatment for dengue at our GH, the CMO said.