Cameraman of BTV Nagesh Padu died late on July 21 after nearly a week-long treatment at a private hospital in Mangaluru after he tested positive for dengue.
He is the fourth person to die of the viral infection after two children — aged 10 and 12 — from Mangaluru and a woman from Kadaba taluk in Dakshina Kannada.
He was admitted to the private hospital on July 17, a day after the discharge of his friend who had recovered from the infection. He was found having Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) reaction, a disorder rarely found in dengue patients. This was also found in the two children who died few days ago.
The Dakshina Kannada district administration has sent samples of these three victims for testing at the virology laboratory in Manipal to know more about the infection..
Meanwhile, the District Administration was vigorously carrying out vector source reduction exercise and imposing heavy fines on the owners of private establishments and houses where mosquito are found to be breeding. The district administration was also carrying out campaign to make people use repellent and other measures to prevent mosquito bite.
On July 21, 23 persons were admitted to hospitals after being tested positive for dengue of which 21 were from Mangaluru, according to a press release.