AIIMS Student Dies of Dengue Fever

A seventh semester student of the premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here died Saturday of dengue even as authorities said measures were being taken to control spread of the deadly fever in the campus.

Kamal Raj Kiran was admitted in a special ward of AIIMS after he had tested positive for dengue Thursday. His condition deteriorated and he was operated upon Friday to stop brain haemorrhage.

"Kiran, a native of Hyderabad and a seventh semester student of our institute, died this afternoon," Binod Patra, a senior AIIMS resident doctor, told IANS.

"It's a rarest of the rare cases. He was on a life support system till last evening," AIIMS medical superintendent D.K. Sharma had told reporters earlier.

At least 17 people including 12 medicos and five employees of the AIIMS have tested positive for dengue so far.

Earlier in the week, a 17-year-old girl succumbed to the deadly fever while undergoing treatment at the institute.

AIIMS authorities admitted that the situation in the campus was alarming and necessary directives were being issued to control it.

"If doctors have caught dengue, that too in the AIIMS, then there is something wrong somewhere. It could be that our support staff are not doing their job properly," the official said.

The dengue virus is spread by the bite of female Aedes mosquitoes, primarily Aedes Aegypti, that breed in clean water collections.

A fresh directive was issued to all support staff to keep a close watch for any signs of such breeding grounds around hospital premises, the students' hostels and doctors' residences.

"Besides, we have also asked students and resident doctors to keep their water coolers clean," the official said, adding that the AIIMS will also ask the civic authorities to remove the garbage and stagnated water from near the boundary walls of the institute.

"The condition of the hostels is not that great. Some of the rooms do not get any sunlight and the water in coolers is rarely changed regularly. As the doctors are too busy attending to patients and the support staff are not that alert, the mosquito breeding goes on unabated," said a resident doctor on the condition of anonymity.

He said the number of cases was really alarming and had created panic among hostel residents, most of whom were queuing up for a check-up.

The national capital has this year recorded over 400 cases of dengue fever - more than double the number reported in 2005. According to health authorities here, at least 10 people have died in the city of the deadly fever during this year.

Moreover, authorities said next two months could see the disease spreading further. Out of the total cases reported this year, 127 came to light only last week.

Source-IANS
SRM