Delhi Witnesses Mounting Fever Cases Among Kids Amid Dengue Outbreak

As the cases of mosquito-borne plague are rapidly growing in several parts of the country, New Delhi recently sent a team to at least nine states and union territories to assist them in managing the outbreak of dengue.

As India celebrated a milestone in October of having administered one billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to people, dengue, a mosquito-transmitted virus that spreads during monsoon season, has started rapidly spreading across several parts of the country.

Last week, the federal government sent teams to nine states and union territories, including Haryana, Punjab, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, which together account for 86 percent of the country’s dengue cases.

According to the government of India, a total of 116,991 dengue cases have been recorded till 31 October.

The dengue cases are not just being reported from India, but several South Asian countries — Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan- are also facing the worst surge in such cases.

Pakistan reported 25,478 total dengue fever cases as of 27 October, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad. Similarly, Bangladesh has reported 24,518 dengue cases. The island nation Sri Lanka has reported 18,000 cases.

The primary cause behind the tropical disease is the standing water contributing to the epidemic’s growth; while life-threatening for only a tiny fraction of those infected, the disease can be extremely painful.

India’s Largest Hospital Overrun With Feverish Patients

Sputnik visited Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi and interacted with family members of dengue patients.

Safdarjung Hospital, which is the largest central government hospital in India in terms of the number of beds, had to open a separate fever clinic to tackle dengue cases.

Children's ward at Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi

© Sputnik / Deexa Khanduri

The staff disclosed that as of last week the hospital was receiving 250-300 dengue patients per day, which seems to have ebbed to around 150 in the first week of November.

However, the hospital's paediatric ward was overrunning, with several children sharing compelled to share beds and languishing in hallways.

Meanwhile, many relatives lay on mats and blankets outside the hospital building, while others can be seen at the bus stop and metro station entrance near the hospital.

Talking to Sputnik on condition of anonymity, Shweta Singh (name changed) a resident of Faridabad city, shared: “I lost my pregnant sister-in-law due to this disease last week. She was five months pregnant, admitted at Yatharth Hospital in Noida city.”

“Now, her eldest daughter is also suffering from the same deadly disease,” Singh added.

Children's ward at Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi

© Deexa Khanduri

Asked why they were treating the girl at a government hospital and not at the same (Yatharth) hospital, she replied: “We lost the trust. The day when my sister-in-law died, three more patients died due to dengue in the hospital. Safdarjung hospital has no denial policy for patients.”

Sputnik could not independently confirm the claims.

According to Singh, they first tried to treat the mother and the child at home, but then her sister-in-law's temperature rose to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. A rash spread across her legs and shoulders, and her pain had grown unbearable before they admitted both the patients to the hospital.

New Delhi has reported 2,708 cases of dengue; nine people have died, including six children. Among the victims are a 63-year-old resident of the Rohini area, a 12-year-old boy from the Deoli area, and a three-year-old girl from the Badarpur area.

Children's ward at Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi

© Sputnik / Deexa Khanduri

Of the 2,708 cases, 1,171 have been logged in the last week alone.

According to Dr. Ashutosh Biswas, dengue symptoms are very similar to the COVID-19 symptoms, including lack of appetite, headaches, backache, vomiting, and nausea.

“If these symptoms persist for three to four days, one should visit the hospital. In most of cases, platelets start falling after five days of recurrent fever. Those having less than 150,000 platelets may need a transfusion,” Biswas said.

Not only from Delhi but doctors from different parts of the country have agreed having witnessed a rise in dengue cases this year.

“In the state of Telangana, dengue cases in 2021 have doubled in comparison to 2020. In the month of September-October, we have seen a massive surge in the hospital," Dr. M. Ramakrishna, Consultant Physician at Yashoda Hospitals in Hyderabad said.

Children's ward at Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi

© Sputnik / Deexa Khanduri

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that there are hundreds of millions of dengue infections every year, and nearly two-thirds of these cases are from Asia. There is no specific treatment or vaccine for the virus, and severe cases can lead to death if not diagnosed early and if patients do not receive proper medical care.