JOIN USDengue has raised its ugly head in the city, claiming the life of a five-year-old boy in Atmajyotinagar, a slum near Nayandahalli on Wednesday.
Gokul Nanda fell ill on Monday and was admitted to a private hospital, where the doctors diagnosed him with dengue on Tuesday.
“The next day (Wednesday), his parents Shiva and Lakshmi took him to the Victoria Hospital where the child breathed his last,” said Shakuntala, a resident of the area.
She added that the child fell prey to apathy in Victoria Hospital as the doctors could not diagnose him properly and were in denial that the child had dengue. “The lab test reports of the private hospital have confirmed that Gokul Nanda had dengue,” said Shakuntala.
Nanda’s parents had migrated from Challakere in Chitradurga district a decade ago in search of livelihood and worked as labourers. They had two sons – Gagan and Gokul Nanda. Nanda got admission in a private school under the Right to Education Act and had started attending school a week ago. His parents were inconsolable with the demise of their child. Residents blamed the BBMP for the child’s death. They said the entire slum stinks as the underground drains laid by the BWSSB are choked and the sewage flows into a side drain which is also clogged.
They said at least 80 people are suffering from fever in the locality. A resident, Jaya, has been hospitalised and diagnosed with dengue, they said, adding that they have never seen fogging or spraying in the area in adecade. A resident said they had been complaining to the BBMP about the clogged drain and badly maintained public toilets, but no one bothered to visit the area.
More than 1,000 calls in 2 days
With increasing cases of dengue reported from across the state, the Health and Family Welfare department has set up a toll free helpline. In the last two days, the helpline 104 received 1,056 calls. On the first day on Wednesday, it received 390 calls while it was 666 calls on Thursday.
According to officials, calls were received from people across the state and from ASHA workers who are deployed to assist people on dengue. Most calls were from Vijayapura district (90) while Kalaburagi, Belagavi, Bagalkot and Raichur registered more than 50 calls since Wednesday.
“Although there is a lull in the monsoon, there is stagnation of water and the number of dengue cases are also on the rise,” said Dr R Narayan, deputy director for emergency response service. Calls from different districts are collected at the emergency response service centre and reported to district hospitals where officials verify the cases.
The number gets updated as and when the call centre receives calls, said Dr Narayan. He also said these cases are not confirmed dengue cases and they need to be verified. “The helpline will especially help those who have to travel long distances to primary health centres,” said Dr Raghavendra Adur, operations manager of the help desk 104 Arogyavani. He also said the department is planning to increase its manpower to handle more calls on the helpline.