Two die of 'dengue' in Kolkata, fringes

KOLKATA: The first death was reported in Kestopur where a ho ted in Kestopur where a homemaker reportedly became a victim of the vector-borne disease on Friday night. The victim, identified as Soma Mondal (35), was a resident

Krishnapur in Kestopur

. The area falls under the

Bidhananagar Municipal Corporation

's ward number 9. Soma, her relatives said, was admitted to a Baguiati nursing home off VIP Road on Wednesday. “She was suffering from very high fever and was speaking incoherently. She was being treated in the critical care unit after being detected with

dengue

virus. Her condition took a turn for worse on Friday afternoon. She could take a bottle of saline but collapsed when the second bottle was about to be administered," a relative said.

The second death was reported from Belgharia on the northern fringes of the city .Biswajit Deb, a 36-year-old real estate developer, died of “dengue“ in a private hospital early on Saturday . Deb, a resident of Belghoria's Nowdapara in Kamarhati municipality's ward No. 11, was also associated with cable TV business. He was admitted to a Belgharia nursing home with fever and breathing trouble on Thursday .

According to his family members, he was tested NS1 positive and his platelet count was also very low. “His condition deteriorated all of a sudden and platelet count too dropped to 64, 000 (the normal range is 1.5 lakh to 4.5 lakh). He was then shifted to a private hospital off EM bypass on Friday . But he suffered a cardiac arrest around 4.30am on Saturday and doctors failed to revive him,” a relative said.

Several other residents of Belgharia, Ariadaha and Kamarhati have also tested positive for dengue and are undergoing treatment at Kamarhati's Sagar Dutta Medical College and Hospital and local nursing homes.

“Several persons in Ward 11 are down with fever. Two of my relatives with high fever are still undergoing treatment at Kamarhati Sagar Dutta hospital and at a nursing home in Belgharia Rathtala crossing. We are scared,” said Tanima Bhattacharya, a designer and a resident of Shibaprada Pal Pally.

A resident also alleged that he could not remember the last time vector-control teams were seen in the area. “We haven't seen anyone spraying larvicide here in the past one month. At times, a few municipal workers visit the area to sprinkle bleaching powder beside the drains,” he said.

Kamarhati municipality chairman Gopal Saha, however, told TOI, “Deb's death is very unfortunate. But we are trying our best to cope with the situation by doubling manpower. Some more cases of dengue have been reported. We are aware of this and our vector control team, with the help of the state health officials, are taking special measures to curb the disease.”

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