Death toll due to dengue, climbs to 50 in UP’s Firozabad; Centre sends team

New Delhi : At least 50 people, including 40 children, have died in Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad district in the last 10 days from dengue. The state government said the deaths were due to Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever, which is a severe form of the disease.

Other districts in western UP like Mathura and Agra have also reported a rise in dengue, with hospitals teeming with children who are suffering from viral fever and dehydration.

"A team of the WHO has told me this is Haemorrhagic Dengue which is a very dangerous form of dengue. The platelet count of children collapses suddenly and there is a lot of bleeding," Chandra Vijay Singh, the district Magistrate of Firozabad said in a video statement on Thursday.

A team of experts from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme has been sent to Firozabad by the centre to help health officials.

Earlier, CMO Neeta Kulshresth has been transferred from Firozabad as senior consultant of Aligarh's Malkhan Singh District Hospital, the order said. The order, however, did not mention the reason for the transfer.