Dengue claims 4-yr-old girl’s life in Burtolla
Times of India | 31 October 2025Sources said the girl, Adrisha Poddar, was a resident of Burtolla in north Kolkata under Kolkata Municipal Corporation's ward number 11. This death comes on the heels of a 43-year-old homemaker from the city's southern fringes, under Rajpur-Sonarpur Municipality, last Saturday. Health officials cautioned that while the number of dengue cases is not alarming this year, some cases will continue to linger until the temperature dips to a certain level.
According to sources, the girl was earlier admitted to Divine Nursing Home in Kankurgachi as she had high fever and other symptoms of dengue. Her blood tests came out positive for NS1, a confirmation for the vector. Despite treatment at the Kankurgachi facility, there was no improvement. As her condition kept deteriorating, her parents shifted her to Apollo Multispecialty Hospital three days prior to her death.
Sources in Apollo said that the girl's condition was extremely precarious when she was brought to the hospital.
She was immediately admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit. Doctors found that all her major organs were already impacted by the infection.
"The child was brought too late. By the time our team got her, her platelet count had depleted to a dangerous level, and she already showed signs of multi-organ failure. The team tried everything in their power to save her, but the scope was too narrow as she came for medical attention too late," said the source.
Sources said that ward number 11 is also the same ward where KMC deputy mayor, who is also MMiC (health), Atin Ghosh, lives. TOI tried to contact Ghosh, but calls went unanswered. The KMC vector control department has planned a special drive in the neighbourhood where the girl lived, along with the adjacent neighbourhoods.
According to a KMC official, the civic body would concentrate its anti-dengue drive in several north Kolkata areas where the dengue cases were relatively low compared to some south Kolkata areas.
However, in the past couple of weeks, some North Kolkata neighbourhoods, including Burtolla, Beadon Street, Jorasankor, Jorabagan, and Girish Park, have been witnessing a spurt in dengue and malaria cases.
"We are also worried about some Dum Dum, Cossipore, and Belgachia zones that share borders with other municipalities where dengue numbers are rising," said a KMC official.
According to state health officials, there is a slight uptick in dengue cases post Durga Puja. The current weather conditions of rain spells in between sunny skies could again accelerate mosquito breeding.
