Fear and mourning in Mathura village that lost 9 children as dengue cases rise in region
KOH IS AMONG
THE WORST AFFECTED AREAS BY THE OUTBREAK THAT FIRST BECAME PUBLIC ON AUGUST 18 FROM FIROZABAD
KOH (MATHURA): Koh stirs to life early in the morning. The young men go to factories in Mathura, and other men and women head to the fields or cowsheds. The village of roughly 350 households is a patchwork of red, green, pink and blue brick houses with piles of cow dung, mulch, and water strewn along the few pucca roads. Open drains run alongside.
The locals don’t seem to mind, walking barefoot and skipping over the garbage.
Over the past fortnight, however, a blanket of silence has fallen over the usual village chatter, pierced by the occasional wail of a heartbroken mother. In that period, the village has lost nine children to dengue and another 130 have fallen sick to viral fever that has killed at least 54 people in the region, according to government estimates.
Koh is the among the worst affected areas by the outbreak that first became public on August 18 from Firozabad but quickly spread across the region. The government later clarified that the “mysterious disease” initially reported was, in fact, dengue. A central team later classified a majority of the deaths as being caused by dengue, with the others attributed to scrub typhus and leptospirosis.
In the village, people don’t go out anymore, instead congregating on the courtyard of houses where new victims emerge, offering condolences to families of victims as young as four.
After a visit by chief minister Yogi Adityanath on August 30, the government has stepped up treatment and mitigation efforts. “...It should be examined and action should be initiated against guilty officers,” he said on Monday. But, the outbreak has also spotlighted poor health infrastructure and public hygiene, especially in the hinterlands with low awareness.
LUCKNOW: Cases of viral fever, dengue and malaria have seen a sharp spike in Bareilly, Badaun, Moradabad and Pilibhit districts of the Rohilkhand region of Uttar Pradesh since last week, said the state health department officials on Tuesday.
In Badaun, Vijay Bahadur Raj, the chief medical superintendent (CMS) of the district hospital said, “We receive 1,100 to 1,400 out patients every day and most of these patients complain of symptoms resembling to viral fever.” “So far we have around 50 confirmed cases of malaria in the Badaun but no case of dengue so far,” Raj added.
Bareilly CMS, Dr Subodh Sharma said, “A 10-year- old child who had very low platelets count was brought to hospital. The child succumbed within hours of admission. He had dengue like symptoms we have sent his blood samples for confirmation.” The district health administration has set up dedicated dengue and malaria wards in response to the confirmed cases.
On Tuesday, close to 400 new patients showing symptoms of viral fever were reported in Moradabad, while two cases each of dengue and malaria were confirmed in Moradabad. “We have sent 23 samples for dengue test and 280 samples for malaria... The results are awaited,” said MC Garg chief medical officer of Moradabad.
In Pilibhit, the number of patients with viral fever-like symptoms was 500. Health administration also confirmed a case of dengue in a 12-year-old boy. District magistrate, Pulkit Khare said, “The health department is keeping a close watch on the cases of dengue and malaria, in the district and ensure proper treatment,” said the DM.
The government health department officials have said that the spike in case of viral fever is a norm post-monsoon, asserting that the situation is under control.