Dengue patient count catches up with Covid numbers in Kolkata hospitals

KOLKATA: The number of Covid admissions hasn’t seen a significant spurt in Kolkata so far but a continuous flow of dengue patients over the last two weeks has left city hospitals and doctors on tenterhooks.
In fact, the number of dengue patients in some hospitals currently equal that of Covid patients or exceeded it marginally. While dengue cases are fewer than Covid cases in hospitals along the EM Bypass, their number is slightly higher in south Kolkata hospitals.
“We have seen a spike in dengue cases in the last one week. Currently, we have 24 dengue patients admitted in our hospital. Majority of them are residents of localities within a 5-km radius of our hospital. While Covid seems to be under control, the dengue number is a cause of worry,” said Simmardeep Gill, CEO, CK Biral Hospitals CMRI. Against 24 dengue patients, CMRI had 22 Covid patients on Saturday.
Most hospitals said they it did not have so many dengue admissions last year.
“Unlike last year, dengue is creating quite a ripple this year. Right now, we have 16 dengue patients against 15 Covid cases. Most of these patients are from areas like Ballygunge and adjoining areas,” said Pradip Tondon, CEO, Belle Vue Clinic.
Last year, as Covid dominated, the city did not see that many cases of other infections or tropical diseases, including dengue and malaria. This year, the first dengue death was reported on September 22, when a 19-year-old boy succumbed to the vector-borne disease at a private hospital.
“Around 7% of our admitted patients have dengue and 3% have malaria. Both have seen a spurt in the last ten days,” said Rupali Basu, managing director & CEO of Woodlands Multispeciality Hospital. “We have a total of 18 admitted Covid patients which is 12% of all admitted cases. All fever patients account for 22% or admitted patients and is either dengue, malaria or Covid,” Basu added.
On Saturday, the three units of AMRI together had 32 dengue and 8 malaria patients, half of this at its Salt Lake unit. The three hospital units currently have 53 Covid patients, including 23 in ICU. Narayan Memorial Hospital Behala has three dengue patients including one in ICU against 5 covid patients.
“Dengue and malaria cases started rising about a month and half ago. The inflow of patients is still on and on any given day we have about 10 patients admitted with either dengue or malaria,” said Subhasish Datta, general manager operations at Ruby Hospital.
Health officials said strengthening of dengue/malaria surveillance by Kolkata Municipal Corporation could be a reason for more detection. Few hospitals like Peerlesss and RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS), however, have few dengue cases.
“Somehow, we are getting only a handful of dengue cases this year too. But we lost two patients who came seeking treatment when their condition was already critical,” said Sudipta Mitra CEO Peerless Hospital.