3,500 dengue cases across TN; toll rises to 4 in Vellore

VELLORE: With three more children succumbing to suspected dengue in the last two days, the toll has increased to four in Vellore.

Kiran Kumar, the five-year-old son of Akilan from Vella Naikaneri village near Tirupattur, was admitted to the Tirupattur Government Hospital after suffering from fever. From there, he was shifted to Salem Government Hospital, where he succumbed on Tuesday.

Earlier on Monday night, Divya (11), daughter of Arivarasan, a daily wage earner from Gudiyattam, was admitted to a private hospital with fever. After her condition worsened, she was shifted to first to Gudiyattam Government Hospital and then to Vellore Government Medical College Hospital. But she succumbed while undergoing treatment there.

In another case, the 13-month-old daughter of Vijayakumar, a resident of Kali Amman Koil Street in Virudampattu near Katpadi, was suffering from fever for the past few days. As it did not subside, she was brought to a private hospital in Vellore on Monday. However, the doctors declared the child dead on arrival. Following this, health officials from Vellore Corporation inspected Vijayakumar’s house and also held an inquiry about fever cases in the locality.

Nakshatra of Pallikonda near Vellore was the first victim to succumb to the disease a few days ago.

Following the deaths, the district administration has ordered the officials to carry out anti-dengue measures on a war-footing.

Minsiter inspects hospitals in city

Health Minister C Vijaya Baskar inspected dengue and fever wards at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and Institute of Child Health on Tuesday. He claimed that the Health department is transparent about the number of dengue cases and related deaths in the State.

Stating that the State has recorded about 3,900 dengue cases since January, he assured that the Health Department was sharing all the details with the public as it would spread more awareness on the disease.

“We don’t want to create panic by spreading rumours on the death figures before analysing the collected data,” he added. The Minister also urged the public to not self-medicate and rush to the hospitals immediately if they develop mild fever.

Speaking about action taken against a private city hospital for not implementing the recommended protocol, the Minister said that if the private hospitals across the State do not follow the standard protocol for treatment of dengue and fever, the Health department would take strict action against them.