Dengue onslaught continues in Kolkata and Howrah, claims one more youth's life

KOLKATA/HOWRAH: Dengue claimed another young life in Kolkata's twin city of Howrah on Tuesday. The death certificate of Tausif Sardar, a 29-year-old engineer, cited dengue shock syndrome and multi-organ dysfunction syndrome as the causes.
Along with Kolkata, Howrah is also reeling under the dengue onslaught this monsoon.

Sources said Sardar, a resident of Belur Vote Bagan under Ward 58 of Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC), was admitted to TS Jaiswal Hospital on September 1 with dengue symptoms, which was later confirmed by an ELISA test. But as his condition deteriorated, the patient's family shifted him to Narayana Superspeciality Hospital where he died on Tuesday.
HMC chief administrator Sujoy Chakraborty admitted that the mosquito menace was growing by the day in some areas. "All steps are being taken up to counter the dengue problem," he said.
Dengue has already claimed several young lives in the city and its surroundings. Two patients in their 30s, including the mother of twins, died in a city hospital two weeks ago. The vector-borne disease claimed the life of two other patients in a hospital on VIP Road recently. On Tuesday, 232 new cases were detected across the state. As many as 332 dengue patients are admitted in government hospitals in Bengal. Relatively more cases are being reported from Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Murshidabad & Jalpaiguri.
"We are witnessing cases of organ failure in younger patients as dengue tends to affect microcirculation in the body. The number of severe cases like dengue shock syndrome and dengue haemhorragic fever is expected to go up as the volume of patients rises," said medicine specialist Jayanta Datta, head of the medicine department at Charnock Hospital.
Sources in the hospitals said most of these patients were in the 30-50 age category. While doctors had encountered fast-dipping platelet count as a major issue earlier, this time the requirement for blood transfusion is less.
"Manifestation of gastrointestinal issues like vomiting is very common this time. Even as platelet count drop is not a major issue, what I am seeing is early onset of platelet count drop in some patients," said Rahul Jain, internal medicine specialist at Belle Vue Clinic.
"First three days are very crucial. If they are extremely sick and not urinating properly, it is better to seek medical attention immediately as some may go into dengue shock syndrome or develop dengue haemorrhagic fever if the issue is not addressed on time. But unlike the previous years, we are getting few aged patients this time," said internal medicine specialist Chandramouli Mukherjee.