Chennai: Two minors died of dengue at the Institute of Child Health (ICH) in Egmore on Monday. The two children, Dakshan and Deeksha, twin children of Santhosh Kumar from Santhosh Nagar Madhavaram, died on Monday morning after suffering from dengue-related complications.
The doctors who treated the seven-year-old twins said that the children were admitted to the hospital on Sunday with several complications and passed away within 24 hours of admission. “The children had a viral hemorrhagic fever. One of them suffered convulsions while the other had bleeding. This happens due to dengue shock syndrome,” a doctor who treated them said.
The two children suffered from high fever for over five days before being brought to the hospital, state health secretary Dr Radhakrishnan said, adding that self-medication added to the problem.
Addressing mediapersons at the ICH after conducting inspections on Monday, Dr Radhakrishnan discussed viral fever, swine flu and dengue prevalence in the state, and assured that 99 per cent of them are curable. “Only cases with complications or those who have self-medicated themselves pass away,”he said, stressing that parents should not wait for three or four days before consulting a doctor.
Requesting people not to panic, the health secretary said that 2012 and 2015 saw a large number of dengue cases in the state. “While in 2017 23,000 people were diagnosed in the state with dengue”, he said, “In all, 63 people died from it, the number has come down to 2000 this year, with the number of deaths only a handful.”
As a preventive measure, fever camps have been set up across the state, Dr Radhakrishnan said, as mobile healthcare vans and special jeeps have been allocated for immediate attention. “Enough medicine is in stock,”he said, adding that all pharmacists will be supervised to ensure over-the-counter tablets are not administered without a doctor’s opinion. “We will conduct a meeting with the pharmacists’ associations, nurses associations to take their help to create awareness,”he said.
With dengue, detecting the source is the first obstacle, Radhakrishnan said, asking people to look out for open water tanks, sumps, construction sites with open water and other such places. “Please alert the corporation workers or tell the health department as soon as possible,”he urged the public.
Isolated cases have been detected in the city. These ‘hotspots’ such as Madhavaram, Tiruvottiyur, Sholinganallur and Korattur are being cleaned up by health inspectors along with corporation officials, he said, adding that people should help by not allowing water to stagnate on the terrace after rain, or in buckets and tubs.
“Keep drums which collect water and other such tanks closed at all times,”he said.
