Panic has gripped the national Capital as chikungunya claimed four lives within 24 hours. Sir Ganga Ram Hospital reported two more deaths on Monday and one on Tuesday. However, till now, death toll due to the viral fever has mounted to five as one patient died at Hindu Rao Hospital on September 5.
According to doctors, this is one of the major viral outbreaks in Delhi in a decade when dengue, chikungunya, and malaria have taken so many tolls. This year, at least nine people have died of dengue. Also, after five years, Delhi has reported two malaria deaths.
According to a municipal report released on Monday, 1,057 cases of chikungunya have been recorded till September 10, marking a jump of nearly 90 per cent from last week.
On Tuesday, The Pioneer reported that chikungunya took its first victim in 65-year-old Ramendra Pandey who succumbed at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital on Monday. Two more chikungunya deaths were reported from the hospital on the same day.
Both the victims were in their 60s. Uday Shanker of Dwarka was admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital on September 11. He died on Monday. “Ashok Chauhan, 62, from Aligarh, died of chikungunya on Monday. He too was admitted in ICU on September 11,” said a senior official of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
Another 75-year-old patient, Prakash Kalra, died of chikungunya on Tuesday. He was also suffering from renal problems, said the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital spokesperson. Kalra hailed from Mathura and was admitted to the hospital on September 12.
Till September 12, the AIIMS apex laboratory recorded at least 1,360 chikungunya cases, said Dr lalit Dar, professor of microbiology at AIIMS. “This year, it’s the susceptible population such as migrants, labours and others who are affected with the disease,” Dr Dar said. This year in Delhi, over 60 per cent people suffering from viral fever are afflicted with chikungunya, he added.
At municipal-run Bara Hindu Rao hospital, a 30-year-old young woman had died of chikungunya on September 5. Dr Ajit Goyal, Director at Bara Hindu Rao hospital, told The Pioneer, “The patient was suffering from heart complication due to which her disease got exaggerated and she died. She was admitted to the hospital on August 26.”
At AIIMS, one suspected chikungunya death was reported, however, authorities are yet to confirm it. “We are yet to confirm if the death was due to chikungunya. But till then it is a suspected case,” AIIMS spokesperson Amit Gupta said.
Doctors say that chikungunya is not a life-threatening disease in itself.
But if a person is suffering from co-morbid conditions, then it turns fatal. Dr Chand Wattal, Microbiologist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said, “From the past experience, we have seen that chikungunya is not fatal. The present evidence suggests that people can even die of chikungunya in rare case.”
Concerned over the health crisis, the Union Health Minister JP Nadda on Tuesday stressed on the need for close coordination between the Centre and States to deal with the outbreak of dengue and chikungunya, which have affected about 40,000 people in the country, even as he said there was no need to panic.
He assured all help to States in fighting against the spread of vector-borne diseases and said it should not be an issue for indulging in blame game.”We will try to fulfill all requirements. Whether it is dengue or chikungunya, we should not panic.”
last year, the city saw a staggering 15,867 dengue cases, the worst in 20 years, with the disease claiming 60 lives, as per municipal reports.