Dengue claims teen and 8-year-old, toll at 11

MUMBAI: A Class VIII student and an eight-year-old girl died of dengue on Friday morning, taking the city's dengue toll to 11 this season. Mahim resident Jude Gonsalves (14) went to school on Thursday though he was being treated for dengue. However, his condition worsened and he succumbed to complications due to the disease in the wee hours of Friday.Kanchan Gupta (8), a Mulund resident, died in a Thane hospital as her platelet count dropped drastically.
Gonsalves had fever, headache and chills earlier in the week. His parents took him to a physician, who began treatment for dengue. But classmates said he came to school on Thursday. "He vomited blood and teachers told him to go home, but he refused. Later, he walked home with his father," said a student.
The civic authorities are treating it as a suspected dengue death. Dr Mangala Gomare, head of BMC's epidemiology cell said, "The boy was taking treatment from a private clinic and tested positive for the rapid test only. The report was not confirmatory."
When the boy's condition deteriorated at night, he was taken to Holy Family Hospital in Bandra, but died on the way. "He was feeling weak and had fever. At night he complained of a breathing problem and was rushed to hospital. He passed away at 1am. The report stating he was positive for dengue came at 2.30am," Jude's uncle Sebastine Gonsalves said. "He had cardio-respiratory failure and was brought in dead," said a source from the hospital.
Mulund resident Gupta was admitted to a private nursing home in the area from where she was initially taken to Fortis Hospital on Thursday as she needed a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU). "Since our PICU was full, the family went elsewhere," said a Fortis Hospital spokesperson. On Thursday afternoon, Gupta landed at Horizon Hospital in Thane where she was put on ventilator support. "Her platelets had dropped to 1000 units and she had developed sepsis (infection)," said Dr Hrushikesh Vaidya from the hospital.
So far, 661 cases of dengue were reported in the city's civic hospitals and 11 deaths-six confirmed and five suspected. Major private hospitals registered 615 patients this month, indicating its rapid spread.
Many of the private hospitals have registered more than 20 dengue patients.
Last week, the civic administration said there were 578 confirmed dengue cases in municipal hospitals till the beginning of October. However, 82 confirmed cases were reported so far in October, while last month the number of confirmed patients was 168.
(With inputs from Yogita Rao & Bhavika Jain)