Delhi kid refused dengue treatment; toll rises to 11

Two more deaths were reported in the national capital today Tuesday due to dengue, taking the death toll to seven. A 43-year-old man died at Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, while a child lost his life to the vector-borne disease after being turned down by five hospitals.

In a shocking case, five-year-old Aman was taken to Safdurjung on 10 September at 10 am and when the child's health deteriorated his parents took him to Jeevan Anmol Hospital at 4 pm. The child was then admitted at Jeevan Anmol Hospital and on 12 September at 2:30 am the doctors told Aman's parents that they don't have adequate infrastructure.

As per a 28 August advisory issued by Delhi government's health department, no hospital, be it private or government, should deny admission to a patient suffering from dengue.

 The family took the child at 3 am to Moolchand hospital where he was given drips and was then referred to another hospital due to lack of beds. The family took Aman to Batra hospital and Max hospital but a bed wasn't available for the ailing child.

At 4 am, the child was taken to Safdarjung Hospital but family claimed they wasted two hours but a card wasn't made. He was then taken to Holy Family hospital around 5 am and on 13 September at 8:05 PM, the boy lost his life.

Safdarjung Hospital sources said that the boy was brought to Safdarjung with high fever on 14 September and within one hour, 5:45 am, the parents took the boy away against medical advice. When he was brought to the emergency ward. Safdarjung doctors gave him antibiotics and other drugs to bring down the fever.

A 43-year-old man also died due to dengue at Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital. The patient was reportedly brought to the hospital in critical condition and died a day later.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said, "We have ordered emergency beds to be put in hospitals. All doctors and paramedical staff have been asked to report. We want to help people in whatever way we can as far as dengue is concerned."

With dengue cases assuming alarming proportions, the Delhi government has ordered all government hospitals to open 'Fever Clinics' at their premises to detect the disease at the primary level.

As per municipal corporation data released on Monday, 613 cases of dengue have been reported in the last one week and a total 1,872 patients have tested positive for the vector borne disease till 12 September.