Mystery fever plays havoc in Kolkata

KOLKATA: Avijit Tarafdar, a 10-year-old boy and resident of Gobindo Ghosh Lane, has been suffering from fever for the past seven days which has so far been remained undiagnosed. Pachulal Shaw, a 85-year-old and resident of Bijoy Bose Road, was lucky that the blood test done at a private laboratory conclusively proved that he had dengue following which he took admission at Sambhnath Pandit Hospital 10 days ago and was finally discharged yesterday.
However, Debasish Bose, a resident of Madan Pal Lane had to go for multiple tests before Bose could be satisfied that he had not been affected by dengue or malaria. Bose himself runs a pathological lab on Turf Road where patients from adjoining areas queue up every day.
These areas lie within one km of chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s residence at Harish Chatterjee Street. And Harish Chatterjee Street is no exception so far as a fever scare among the local residents is concerned. Pari Singh, a one and half year child who stays in a slum within a 100 meter stretch of CM’s residence, has been suffering from fever for the last 12 days. As the fever refused to relent, Pari was admitted to Chittaranjan Seva Sadan at Hazra a week ago. Pari’s condition is stated to be critical. Both Chatu Singh and Papiya Singh Pari’s parents were away from home when a TOI team visited the neighbourhood. Sunil Shaw, Pari’s neighbour, conceded that parts of Harish Chatterjee Street had come under the grip of a dengue scare.
“We have been spending sleepless nights pondering over the plight of our children as a mystery fever has gripped the neighbourhood. Though the KMC authorities have assured us of all possible help, the fever fear is growing among the local residents,” Shaw said.
Ajay Khan, a 87-year-old resident of Madan Pal Lane is keeping his fingers crossed. This octogenarian who is a former Mohumbagan player feels that only a change in weather could now save people of locality from the dreaded disease. “A dip in temperature could lead to a drastic drop in dengue count. We earnestly hope the number of dengue cases will be minimized by the month end,” Khan said.
Ratan Malakar, a local Trinamool Congress councilor, however, feels that there was no reason for any panic. “There is nothing to panic. The situation is under control and there have been no loss of lives as yet,” Malakar said.