Three children die of suspected dengue

Authorities however, claimed that only a thorough investigation would reveal the real cause of deaths. The three children, Fahima (8) and Mohammed (4) both from the same family in Pozhichalur and Lakshitha (6) from Maduravoyal, initially underwent treatment at private hospitals for four days before being admitted to the Egmore hospital. While Mohammed died on Friday evening, Fahima and Lakshita succumbed during the early hours on Saturday, authorities said. 

Denying the death of a fourth child was due to suspected dengue and said that the kid from Kodambakkam died of a congenital heart disease. Talking to DTNext, D Saminathan, director, ICH, Egmore, said, “While Lakshitha was admitted to the hospital on October 14, the other two were brought on October 13. All of them were down with fever. A clear picture will emerge only after we get the test results from the King Institute.” 

The director added that Fahima and Mohammed were suffering from dehydration and their pulse rate was also low. Lakshitha showed symptoms of mixed infection. 

Dr Saminathan added that it was a season for several types of fever. “We get as many as 1012 such cases every day from across Chennai. About 99.99 per cent of them are treated and discharged successfully,” he said. 

Meanwhile, doctors in private hospitals said that they were attending to dengue cases sporadically. Dr KR Rammohan, head, Department of Emergency, Global Hospitals, said, “Though it is not a big number, we get 4-5 cases every week, mostly from Chengalpattu and Maduranthagam.”