Duo's death not due to dengue: KMC

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has denied that dengue was the cause of death of a father-son duo in Kasba. The decea-sed —- Siddheshwar Ghosh and his son Deep — were residents of KIT housing complex in B.B. Chatterjee Street. Siddheshwar worked as an electrician on contract at Bang-abasi College, while his son was a Class 8 student.

On September 4, Siddhartha was admitted to a private hospital off EM Bypass with high fever. Deep was also admitted at the Institute of Child Health (ICH) with high fever the very next day. Siddheshwar died on Thursday, while Deep died in the afternoon. Both the hospitals described the cause of death as dengue. 

On Friday, member mayor in council (health) of the KMC Atin Ghosh, however said, “The death of the father-son duo is unfortunate and coincidental. There is a history behind the deaths of the two. Travel history is a decisive factor in detection of dengue. Deep was down with epilepsy since he was two-and-half-year-old. He was on strong anti-biotic medicines. That is why his father was always depressed.”

“He used to be lost in thoughts about the treatment of his son. He also underwent a bypass surgery at Fortis Hospital. I have learnt he looked frustrated at work. He visited Chennai where dengue has been rampant. He and his son returned home with malaria and fever. His son was cured for fever with paracitamol,” he argued.

“Deep used to have convulsion frequently. So epilepsy was the cause of his death. If there was any presence of dengue virus in his body, it may be an additional cause for his death. His father was tested positive for dengue. It is an imported case since he came to city with fever nine days ago.”