'Hospitals, clinics turned only reality'

KOLKATA: As his college shut for the summer vacation in July, Sujan Das from Kanchrapara visited his uncle's place-the Shil family--at Nayapatty in South Dum Dum. Little did he know that the few weeks of his holiday would have such a devastating end. Just after he returned home, he was diagnosed with dengue and he is still reeling from its after-shock.
It was not Sujan alone but 14 others from the 25-member Shil family have been diagnosed with dengue in the past two months; the condition of four of them turned especially critical and they had to be hospitalized.A joint family of four brothers, the Shils are one of the oldest residents in the area. "There was a time when we did not have even one relative who would not be making a trip to a clinic or a path lab to collect test reports. Everyone in our house was down with fever," said Sandip Shil, the eldest brother. Past 60 years, Sandip seems quite fit. "But the fever has left me weak," he said. Sujan, the Sils' nephew, was the among the worst affected. "He remained unconscious at ICU for three days," Sandip said. While it started with fever, Sujan soon had epileptic-like attacks. Besides, he suffered severe bouts of vomiting and started bleeding too.The youngster was first admitted to a hospital in Kalyani but he had to be shifted to a Kolkata facility as his platelet count dropped to 84,000 per micro-lit re of blood. A person with normal condition is supposed to have 1.5 lakh-4.5lakh platelets per micro-litre.
"For weeks, we went through a harrowing time. Doctors' chambers, medicine shops, path labs and hospitals became the only reality in our lives," said Rathin Das, a son-in-law of the family . "Fortunately , I was not infected. I was among the few who could run around to ensure treatment for the family members."
The last one to be diagnosed with dengue was Papri, wife of Pradip Shil, the youngest brother of the Nayapatti fami ly. "Her platelet count plummeted down to 40,000. As we got the report, we admitted her to a nursing home without delay. We could not take any risk as one after another of our relatives were falling ill," Pradip said. A medical representative, Pradip has to shuttle between Kolkata and north Bengal. "But for those few weeks, I had to take a leave to take care of the other family members," he said.
The Shils, however, don't blame the civic body for the dengue outbreak in the locality. "Working in the pharmaceutical industry, I am aware how the disease is spreading across the city . We don't even know whether the first person in our locality diagnosed with dengue got infected here or somewhere else," Pradip said.
Sujan's mother pointed out that even outside the family, a neighbour was down with fever. "Days after Sujan was diagnosed, our neighbour also complained of high temperature," said Kabita Das, the Shils' sister. "Experts are saying the current weather is favouring the vector. We don't know what more is in store for us."