Man dies of dengue, CMO in denial mode

VARANASI: The dengue scare continued to tighten its grip in the city and its neighbouring districts, as one more person died of a high fever on Saturday, which suspected to be dengue at a private hospital in Manduadih. However, chief medical officer (CMO), Dr. VB Singh, denied having any knowledge of the matter. "We have not received any news of death in private hospital in Manduadih," he said.
According to reports, 25-year old Avdhesh Patel, native of Gairaha village in Sewapuri block, was suffering from high fever for the last few days and had visited a doctor in his village. He was later admitted to a private hospital in Manduadih. After a few days, his condition started deteriorating and later he died. The doctors of the private hospital said he was suffering from dengue.
On being asked about the recent death of an employee of Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith (MGKV) at a private hospital in Kakarmatta area, CMO said, "The patient had only tested positive for dengue in the primary NS1 test and it cannot be accounted as a reason for his death." adding that the reports were being studied. Meanwhile, four more patients tested positive for dengue at Sir Sunder Lal (SSL) hospital at Banaras Hindu University (BHU). While 35-year old Savitri of Varanasi and Mahesh Sau of Jaunpur were confirmed on September 20, Raj Kumar and Rakesh Kumar of Bihar and Chandauli respectively tested positive for the vector-borne disease on September 22.
Besides, city government hospitals have been getting suspected cases of dengue with isolation wards being fully occupied. However, doctors claim only a selected few patients are testing positive of the disease through Elisa test.