No Dengue-related Deaths This Year, Says Aurangabad Health Dept

Dengue, a mosquito-borne disease, has severely affected many parts of India and Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are one of the worst-hit areas in the country. The increasing number of cases of the vector-borne disease has also caused health officials to be more careful and warn other residents as well.

However, amidst all the cases, the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC)’s health department has told The Times Of India that there have been no dengue-related deaths in the city this year.

Despite these claims by the official authority, it was reported that a resident of Cidco area in the city succumbed on Sunday while undergoing treatment at the MGM hospital. According to the hospital’s deputy dean Pravin Suryawanshi, the man was recorded to have reduction in the platelet count. He also tested positive during the NS1 antigen test (nonstructural protein 1), which is a diagnostic test for detecting dengue virus infection.

AMC health officer Nita Padalkar said in her statement that private hospitals are required to notify the civic body about all suspected cases of dengue. She mentioned, “As of now, we cannot confirm that the death took place because of dengue as the patient concerned had also registered a fall and sustained brain injury leading to haemorrhage. We have sent a letter to the MGM hospital for not notifying the dengue patient to us.”

Meanwhile, hospital’s deputy dean Suryavanshi said that the patient was earlier seeking treatment at another hospital and was brought to the MGM hospital only after his condition got serious.

Surprisingly, in the district, the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) is the only hospital to provide enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (mac-elisa) test to confirm the dengue cases among suspected patients. The cases detected by NS1 antigen test are considered to be suspected dengue cases.

In their statement, AMC has declared that 148 suspected cases and 22 positive cases of dengue have been recorded in the city until Monday calling the situation to be under control. In September alone, there have been 26 suspected dengue cases in the city, whereas the civic body did not have any data on the positive cases registered in September so far.