Kolkata: Dengue admission spike in private hospitals sharpest since '2019

Kolkata: Private hospitals in Kolkata have seen a sharp rise in dengue admissions since Sunday, which, they say is the steepest during the current outbreak and the sharpest since 2019. While recovery period had been short earlier, it has now extended to a week on an average across hospitals even as fresh cases are streaming in at an increasing rate. At least two hospitals have made arrangements to keep beds vacant for dengue patients just as they would do for Covid patients during the pandemic.

AMRI Hospitals have seen dengue admissions jump from 71 on Monday to more than 100 across its three units on Thursday. "We have not had so many dengue patients even during the last outbreak in 2019. With the rate of admission rising almost every day, it has become a challenge to accommodate all patients. There could be a bed crisis soon and we are working out a way to reserve beds," said AMRI CEO Rupak Barua.

Peerless Hospital now has 35 dengue patients, a sharp rise from 25 at the start of week. "New admissions shot up between Sunday and Thursday. The rate of admission has gone up even further this week which is alarming. The chunk of our patients is from the fringe areas, particularly North 24 Parganas, apart from the city itself. There seems to be no let-up in flow of patients and we are getting ready for more admissions," said CEO Sudipta Mitra.

Ruby General Hospital has seen the number of dengue patients rise by 10 this week, taking the total to 32 which is by far the highest in three years. Two are admitted in the ICU. "Apart from a rise in admissions, the severity of the disease, too, seems to be intensifying. Many have suffered a sharp platelet drop over the last 2-3 days," said Ruby Hospital general manager (operations) Subhashish Datta.

Woodlands Hospital has seen a 26% rise in dengue admissions this week compared to last week. "Our current occupancy is 31, one less than Wednesday which was the highest of the year. We are getting 5-6 new patients every day," said Rupali Basu, MD & CEO.

Number of patients has doubled at Manipal Hospital this week. "Till last week, we had 4-5 patients that has now gone up to 10," said director Arindam Banerjee. Fortis Hospital at Anandapur had 17 dengue admissions over the last seven days. "Most of them, though, have been discharged and now we have eight admitted," said a spokesperson.

There will be no respite from dengue till the sporadic showers stop completely and mosquito breeding grounds are wiped out, said Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education & Research professor Diptendra Sarkar.