Two die of suspected dengue in Hisar, health dept on toes

HISAR:TWO cousin sisters, studying in a private school, allegedly died of dengue in Hisar city on Friday, sending the health administration into a tizzy.

After getting information about the deaths of the minors, the health department formed 10 teams and sent them to check for larvae. The teams took samples from the girls’ school, home and nearby area.

However, no larva was found from any spot. The deceased girls — Anchal Rani, 15 — was a student of Class 8 and — Komal Rani, 10 — was a student of Class 5. Their family cremated the bodies on Friday without postmortem.

Talking to mediapersons, Anchal’s father Rajeshwar Kumar said, “On Wednesday, both Anchal and Komal started vomiting and had high fever on returning from school. Soon their health deteriorated.”

He added, “We thought it could be food poisoning and took them to a private hospital, where after taking some medicines, their condition improved. On Thursday, their condition again deteriorated and later Anchal succumbed. The doctors said both the girls had symptoms of dengue. On Friday, Komal also died during treatment.”

Health inspector Sukhbir Singh said they got a message from district malaria control officer Jaya Goel about the cases. “Soon after getting the message, we formed 10 teams and rushed to the school and home of the victims. We started anti-larva activity at several points, but we did not found any,” Sukhbir said.

He further said that the team also took health details of the girls from the family members. He said the family told them that the girls had something from the school canteen following which they fell sick. So there could be other reasons for the deaths, he said.

Meanwhile, district malaria control officer Jaya Goel said, “The health department has not yet received any information about any dengue death.”