It has been a little over two weeks since Vijay, a resident of Telangana’s Godavarikhani, lost his younger son Rajesh (10) to dengue. Vijay is still coming to terms with the death.
“We first approached a private clinic in the town itself, and they said that it might be dengue after a blood test. Within 3 days, the fever shot up. All attempts at treating him failed, and we were asked to visit another hospital in Ramangundam. After they conducted tests there, they sent us to Karimnagar,” he says.
Vijay, a daily wage labourer, hired an auto to Karimnagar.
“They admitted him for a bit and then asked us to immediately rush him to Hyderabad. I went to several private hospitals in the city, but they refused to take him in as he was critical, and they were scared that he would die there. With no other option, I brought him to Gandhi Hospital on September 30 and admitted him there,” Vijay narrates.
Three days later, Rajesh died. His diagnosis said ‘Dengue Meningoencephalitis’.
Rajesh was the first dengue death that the state-run Gandhi Hospital saw this month, where four more deaths have been reported since; a 6-year-old, a 9-year-old and another 10-year-old from Hyderabad, besides a 7-year-old from Nalgonda district, all of them children.
Telangana’s dengue crisis
Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by one of the five major strains of the dengue virus. It is spread to humans via mosquito bites. The symptoms set in within 14 days of exposure to the virus, and include fever, joint pain, headaches and general fatigue.
Just last month, the state government drew severe flak for failing to control the spread of the disease. While it was widely reported in the media at the time, with the ongoing strike by the employees of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC), the cameras have gone away, but the crisis seemingly continues.
The latest case being the death of Khammam’s sitting second additional first-class court judge, M Jayamma, at a private hospital in Hyderabad on Monday. This came close on the heels of the death of child artiste Gokul Sai Krishna, who frequently appeared on TV including in shows such as Drama Juniors on Zee Telugu.
Very Sad to hear that our Drama Junior's Gokul Sai is no more. He was a riot at the redcarpet of #ZTKA2019 and our hearts are extremely devastated with the news of his demise. May His Soul Rest in Peace.#GoneTooSoon #RIPGokulSai #JrBalayya#ZeeTelugu pic.twitter.com/kP0Cil0iAU
— ZEE TELUGU (@ZeeTVTelugu) October 18, 2019
What do the numbers say?
According to data from Gandhi Hospital accessed by TNM, the hospital alone saw a staggering 1,027 positive cases of dengue in September, compared to just 252 in August and 86 in July. The state-run hospital, however, claimed that only 4 deaths took place in September.
As of October 21, the hospital has seen 424 positive cases and the death of five children, with close to 50 cases being reported on some days this month.
Speaking to TNM, Gandhi Hospital Superintendent Dr Sravan Kumar attributed the cases to a change in weather patterns.
“Earlier, we used to see the most number of cases in July as it was peak monsoon. Now, we saw the most in September, and with the rains continuing throughout October, the cases have also not stopped,” he says.
This is just the tip of the iceberg as it only takes into account the numbers from one state-run hospital in Hyderabad. TNM had earlier reported how the lack of standardisation of blood tests conducted by private hospitals during treatments to identify dengue, skew the records more.
Swine Flu season to begin soon
Several doctors are also concerned as the swine Flu season is soon expected to set in, even as the dengue cases gradually decrease. An overlap of the two, would only spell disaster, they say.
“Dengue cases have been coming down. Compared to September, we have gotten much fewer cases,” Superintendent of Fever Hospital, Dr K. Shankar, told TNM.
Keeping in mind that the state apparatus is already overburdened with dengue cases, the government has issued a memo to district authorities and other senior officials, about bracing up for H1N1 virus.
“In view of the transmission season, there is every need to maintain strict vigil and closely monitor the cases to contain the spread of the disease in the state... strict compliance to treatment protocol should be ensured and abundant and timely care should be taken for high risk category patients,” the memo reportedly states.
“Right now, there is no reason to worry as only one or two cases are testing positive out of every 100 blood tests that we do. Most of them are negative,” Dr Shankar says.
He also notes that October-November and January-February were peak months last year, but with the change in weather patterns, the authorities expect cases to come in by November-end or December.
“We may see more cases in the coming months but we are prepared,” Dr Shankar adds.