Two more chikungunya deaths in Delhi, 3 fatalities in 24 hrs

New Delhi, Sep 13 (PTI) Two more chikungunya deaths weretoday reported at a city hospital, taking to three the numberof fatalities due to the vector-borne disease in Delhi wherethe number of cases have mounted to over 1,000 this season. 65-year-old Ramendra Pandey yesterday died of chikungunyaat the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, in what could be the first suchdeath in the national capital. The other two deaths also took place at the same hospitalyesterday and both victims were aged above 60 as well,hospital authorities told PTI. "Uday Shanker of Dwarka was admitted on September 11 andhe died on September 12. His RT-PCR test for chikungunya hadcome positive. He had come to our OPD and then admitted. "Ashok Chauhan, 62, from Aligarh also died of chikungunyayesterday. He too was admitted in ICU on September 11 and hisRT-PCR test came positive," a senior official of the hospitalsaid. Pandey, who was referred from a Ghaziabad hospital, hadsuccumbed to the disease at the hospital at 4 AM aftersuffering chikungunya with sepsis. Doctors say that chikungunya is not a life-threateningdisease in general, but in rare cases leads to complicationsthat prove fatal, especially in children and old persons. Incidentally, one suspected chikungunya death has alsobeen reported at the AIIMS, but hospital authorities are yetto confirm it. "We are yet to confirm if the death was due tochikungunya. But till then it is a suspected case," AIIMSspokesperson Amit Gupta said. According to reports, the "chikungunya death" at the AllIndia Institute of Medical Sciences took place sometime inSeptember and five persons have also "died of dengue" thismonth. Chikungunya cases in the national capital have sharplyrisen to over 1,000 this season, marking a jump of nearly 90per cent from its count last week. According to a municipal report released yesterday, atleast 1,057 cases of this vector-borne disease have beenrecorded till September 10, however, hospitals in the cityaltogether are reporting much higher number. Authorities at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said, Pandeywas kept under the care of a senior specialist in theDepartment of Medicine and a team of doctors from the InternalMedicine-ICU. Lalit Dar of Department of Microbiology at AIIMS said,"At our laboratories, 1,360 chikungunya blood test sampleshave tested positive till yesterday. Cases are rising and moreand more people are getting affected." PTI KND IKA DVIKA