Unfortunate: Kolkata Ophthalmologist succumbs to dengue

Kolkata: In an unfortunate incident, a 28-year-old doctor who was diagnosed with dengue died at a hospital in Kolkata on Friday, raising the toll to 25 this year, an official said. 

The deceased has been identified as Dr Debodyuti Chattopadhyay, an ophthalmologist, who breathed his last in the early hours due to dengue haemorrhage shock syndrome, he said.

Chattopadhyay, who recently had a renal transplant, became diabetic after the surgery, and suffered a multi-organ failure, leading to the death, the official said.

He was a resident of south Kolkata's Garfa area.

Dengue (break-bone fever) is a viral infection that spreads from mosquitoes to people. Due to the sudden weather change, Dengue outbreaks are suspected to be spiking in the country with more than 200 people currently infected and few dead from the infection.

Also read- Spike In Dengue Cases: Bihar Health Dept Sets Up Separate Wards For Patients

Talking about the Dengue outbreak, Dr Rajiva Gupta, Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine, at CK Birla Hospital, Gurugram informed Financial Express, “Dengue is witnessing a spurt in the number of cases across India. Delhi, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, and Kolkata have seen a significant rise in cases and reported deaths as well related to dengue. Every year, there is a wave of dengue infection during monsoon season. However, this time there are more cases being reported. This year the number of dengue cases has broken the record of the last 6 years.

Dengue cases always occur in the monsoon season whereas this year has been severe on account of a lot of rain followed by stagnation of water and the cyclical nature of the infection meaning alternate cycles of low and high numbers of dengue cases."

“The typical symptoms of dengue are fever, body aches, pain behind the eyes, chills, headache, etc. This year in my personal experience, I have noted respiratory symptoms too, like, irritation in the throat, cold cough etc. Although these symptoms are usually ascribed to flu, such patients when tested were found to be positive for dengue,” he added. 

Medical Dialogues recently reported that Bihar, Uttarakhand and Haryana health departments have taken preventive measures to control the spread of Dengue among the citizens. The cases of viral fever along with dengue are increasing day by day in the cities. 

Also read- Spike In Dengue Cases: Uttarakhand CM Instructs Officials For Effective Control