10-year-old Howrah girl dies of dengue

KOLKATA: A 10-year-old girl, Akshiti Das, from near Howrah’s Botanic Garden died of dengue at a prominent private hospital in Kolkata on Saturday morning.
This is the second dengue death in Howrah in the last 10 days, the other victim being another girl, Anoki Verma, from Ghusuri..
Das, a Class-IV student at a school in Howrah, had been down with high fever since October 23.“When the fever continued into the third day despite Akshiti having medicines prescribed by doctors at home, we admitted to a nursing home near our house. Her fever subsided soon after and she was discharged. However, she again had high fever and was admitted to this leading private hospital in Kolkata on October 29,” said a relative, Shyamal Das. “She underwent several tests and was diagnosed with dengue. Her platelet count declined to a dangerous level,” In shock, Akshita’s father Avik Das and her mother declined to speak to anyone.
Former local councillor of Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) Sabita Santra said, “Her death certificate states dengue shock syndrome with multi-organ dysfunction as the cause of her death. I will ask HMC authorities to thoroughly probe why dengue is spreading in our area.”
Howrah hospital’s superintendent Narayan Chatterjee said, “Every day, we have patients coming in with symptoms of dengue. Several have to be admitted for treatment.”
Howrah BJP leader Umesh Rai said, “HMC polls were slated for last year but the state chose not to hold it and handed the civic body to an administrator. This death is an indication that civic services in Howrah are on the verge of collapse.” But HMC commissioner and administrator Bijin Krishna said, “This death is unfortunate. It happened despite us taking great care to prevent the spread of dengue. It’s not that we don’t do our job.”