Pune: 20 dengue deaths since July at Sassoon hospital

PUNE: The state-run Sassoon General Hospital registered 20 deaths due to dengue between July 1 and November 15 this year, with a maximum of seven casualties each in September and October.

With this, the city's dengue death toll has gone up to 44, so far, this year. Extended rains and flash-floods induced waterlogging, that coupled with half-hearted surveillance led to a significant rise in dengue fever cases.

“We have treated 86 dengue infected patients in a little more than four months. They were mainly patients who had been referred to our hospital when their conditions had deteriorated or when they had exhausted their money after undergoing treatment at private hospitals,” spine surgeon Ajay Chandanwale, dean of BJ Medical College and Sassoon General Hospital, said.

Of the 86 patients who were referred to the hospital, 20 patients succumbed to severe forms of dengue including dengue shock syndrome and dengue haemorrahegic fever. Some of them died due to dengue fever induced multi-organ failure, he said.

Of the 20 patients who died of dengue fever induced complications, four were in the paediatric age group. The remaining 16 were adults.

The dengue death toll has increased significantly in the city this year. Five patients, including four women, succumbed to dengue fever-induced complications at Ruby Hall Clinic in October alone. Bharati Hospital in Dhankawdi recorded 13 deaths due to dengue between July 1 and October 31 this year.

When contacted, public health expert and head of the civic body’s insect control department, Sanjeev Wavare said, “As per the norms, the expert committee of the civic body’s public health department will audit the deaths and confirm whether these people died of dengue fever-induced complications or they had some other underlying medical conditions.”

Activist Sanjay Dabhade demanded that relatives of the dead should be compensated by the officials of the Pune Municipal Corporation, saying, “Prevention and mitigation of communicable diseases are the mandatory duties of health officials. They have failed in preventing and containing the outbreak of dengue. Thus, they should compensate the people’s hospitalization charges. They should also grant a sizeable amount towards compensation to those who lost their kin to dengue.”