12 Kolkata: The city recorded its first dengue death this season on Saturday, even as mayor Firhad Hakim said the death certificate was ‘prepared in a hurry' and that he would ‘take up the matter' with RG Kar Hospital, where the death occurred. Bittu Singh, a 36-year-old youth from Jorabagan in north Kolkata, succumbed to the vector-borne virus at the RG Kar Medical College Hospital where he was admitted with high fever and other dengue symptoms on Friday. His death certificate mentioned ‘dengue fever' as the cause of death. This is the third dengue death in Bengal this year, including one in Bidhannagar last week.
Singh tested positive for dengue at the hospital's fever clinic upon his admission. The health department set up fever clinics at medical colleges and health centres across the state following a surge in dengue cases after Kali Puja-Diwali.
While no dengue death has been officially recorded in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) area this season, at least two private hospitals have seen patients with comorbidities die after testing positive for dengue in the last three months. One of them was a resident of Bengaluru.
While Singh's death certificate mentioned ‘dengue fever' and haemorrhage among the causes of death, Hakim said, "We have reasons to believe that the report was prepared in a hurry without following treatment protocol. This is only possible at RG Kar. I shall write to the state health department asking for a proper investigation into the matter."
Since the surge in dengue cases started earlier this month, the state health department took a series of measures, including regular screening of suspected patients and tests. Every hospital was asked to submit a daily report to the community medicine and public health department. Civic authorities were asked to identify dengue hotspots to prevent transmission and identify patients faster. These are being sent to the vector-control departments.
More than 800 have so far tested positive for dengue in Kolkata this season. The number could be around 15,000 across the state. This year, though, the dengue outbreak has been restricted, and cases have been relatively few.
Last week, a 69-year-old woman succumbed to dengue in Baguihati under the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation area.