PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, Aug 8: The monsoon spectre of a dengue outbreak has gripped the steel city Jamshedpur with the first suspected death reported from Govindpur and as many as 24 patients, across hospitals testing positive for the life-threatening virus.
A 12-year-old girl (a resident of Govindpur) suffering from suspected dengue died late at night on Monday.
The victim- Sneha Kumari, daughter of Sanjay Kumar was suffering from fever for five days and was admitted to Tata Motors Hospital for treatment.
She was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit of Tata Motors Hospital where she died yesterday during the course of treatment.
Family members said that the doctor had said that she had all the symptoms of the killer virus.
As many as 24 new patients were admitted to various hospitals during the past 24 hours with symptoms of dengue.
Sources in the East Singhbhum district health department said blood samples were sent to the microbiology department of MGM Medical College in Dimna and the test reports are awaited.
Dengue virus, which is borne by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, spreads during this time of the season.
Health department officials said they had sounded an alert across hospitals, nursing homes and primary health centres, which had been directed to set up isolation wards.
“Extra attention must be paid to patients turning up with high fever, which is a symptom of dengue, along with others like headache and vomiting. Blood tests must be done to check platelet count,” said an official.
