Over 40 die of suspected dengue, viral fever in UP, Firozabad CMO transferred

Firozabad/Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government has transferred the chief medical officer of Firozabad after at least 41 people, mostly children, died of suspected dengue and viral fever.

According to a government order, Dr Dinesh Kumar Premi will be the new CMO of Firozabad. Till now, he held the charge of the additional CMO in Hapur.

CMO Neeta Kulshresth has been transferred from Firozabad as senior consultant of Aligarh's Malkhan Singh District Hospital, the order said. The order, however, did not mention the reason for the transfer.

Additional Director (Health) of Agra Division A K Singh and Firozabad Government Medical College Principal Sangeeta Aneja told reporters that 41 people, mostly children, died due to viral fever and suspected dengue in the past over 10 days.

A team of the ICMR has reached Firozabad to tack stock of the situation, which has caused widespread concern. Earlier on Tuesday, Firozabad BJP MLA Manish Asija had claimed that 44 people died of suspected dengue in the district since August 22-23.

"Till now, 32 children and seven adults have died," the Chief Minister had said after the visit, adding that the death of children will be probed to ascertain its reason by a team from King George's Medical University in Lucknow.

Following the CM's visit, Singh and Aneja, along with other senior health officials, visited affected areas of Firozabad and also enquired about the patients admitted to hospitals. 

At a joint press conference, the two officials said among the dead, 36 belonged to urban and five rural areas. They said dehydration, stomach-ache, blood shortage and drop in platelet count along with high fever have been noticed among the victims.

The additional director said an 18-member medical team including members from Agra, Meerut and Kanpur has reached Firozabad to assist in tackling the disease.

In addition, a surveillance team is moving around in the affected areas of Firozabad to know about the mosquitoes spreading the disease. Aneja said 538 people got themselves examined at the medical college of Firozabad and 126 of them were found suffering from dengue.

None of the samples have tested positive for COVID-19, Aneja said. Children are falling ill after a sudden drop of water in the body and infection in the stomach, Aneja said.

The health officials said along with Firozabad, the spread of dengue is also suspected in Mathura and it is doubted that the disease could have been triggered by animals.

They said of 300 beds available in the medical college, 240 are occupied at present. An additional 100 beds are being added to cater to the surging numbers of patients.

A total of 35 samples have been sent to the KGMC, Lucknow, and reports are expected to arrive soon.  A few other samples have also been dispatched to a national virology laboratory in Pune.

Meanwhile, the Opposition parties expressed concern over the situation, with the Samajwadi Party alleging that people are suffering due to poor health services. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has claimed that 56 people have died. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had on Monday visited some dengue patients.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati also expressed concern over the deaths of several children. She also raised the issue of floods in parts of the state and asked the state government to take serious note of the situation or else it would go out of hands.

Interacting with party workers in the state capital to take feedback on the prevailing political situation in the state, she asked them to extend help to the affected people. 

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