Fifth dengue death reported in city

Delhi reported its fifth dengue death on Sunday after an 18-year-old youth died at a private hospital in south Delhi. The victim, Asad Iqbal, a native of Bihar, succumbed to the deadly disease on Sunday morning at Apollo Hospital in Sarita Vihar. He had been living in the city to pursue his higher education.

This is the third dengue death reported in south Delhi. “He was brought to the hospital in a critical state on August 26. Asad was earlier admitted to some private hospital in south Delhi area and was later referred to Apollo Hospital. He died at around 7 am on Sunday due to dengue shock,” a source from the hospital said.

The young student was already diagnosed with dengue before getting admitted to the hospital. “His blood pressure was very low and he was put on ventilator in an ICU,” the source said.

According to a municipal report, the total number of cases of the vector-borne disease has climbed to over 310 this year till the first three weeks of August.

Out of the total cases reported this season in the national capital, nearly 192 were recorded in the first three weeks of August. Earlier, 12-year-old Muskan, a resident of Shaheen Bagh, had died on July 29, while 19-year-old Deepak, from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, succumbed to the disease on July 27, both at Safdarjung Hospital.

The civic bodies, however, have only acknowledged these two death cases so far. This year, dengue cases have been reported rather early. The vector-borne disease had claimed its first victim on July 21.