Delhi Dengue death toll rises to five

New Delhi: An 18-year-old boy succumbed to dengue fever at the Delhi government-run Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Hospital, hospital authorities said today, taking the dengue death toll to five.

According to Dr Amita Saxena, Medical Superintendent of the LBS hospital, the youth had tested positive in the ELISA test and died due to dengue shock syndrome.

The victim, a resident of Khichripur in east Delhi was brought to the emergency of the hospital on September 8 with complaints of high fever and died late on Wednesday night (September 9).

"When the youth was admitted, his vital parameters were normal and his platelet count was ok. He was admitted for investigation. However, he had bouts of loose motion after which he collapsed.

"He was stabilised by putting in IV drips and but then his platelet count dropped to 38,000 following which he was shifted to the ICU on Wednesday. At night his condition suddenly worsened and he suffered cardiac arrest due to dengue shock syndrome and passed away," said Dr Amita Saxena, Medical Superintendent of the LBS hospital.

"The victim's samples were sent for testing on Tuesday (September 9) the results of which arrived yesterday which confirmed that he was suffering from dengue," Dr Saxena added.

The hospital authorities have also notified the death case to the East Delhi Municipal Corporation.

Yesterday, a 45-year-old staffer of AIIMS had died of dengue. With this two deaths reported, the dengue death toll in the capital now stands at five, however, the Municipal Corporation is yet to include three deaths in their official list.

Two dengue deaths have been officially reported, both victims being from north Delhi.

According to official data by the Municipal Corporation, 1,259 cases of dengue have been reported in Delhi this year till September 5 with at least 428 cases in the first week of this month.