Central Team confirms dengue outbreak in Firozabad, says sources

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Image: CNN
Image: CNN

New Delhi : More than 60 people, including 50 children have died due to dengue fever in Firozabad district of Uttar Pradesh over the past 10 days. The majority of those cases - 50, including 40 children - were reported from Firozabad district and surrounding areas.

Sources said authorities are treating the rash of cases in Firozabad as a dengue outbreak.

"A team from the WHO ( World Health Organization) told me this is 'haemorrhagic dengue', which is very dangerous... platelet count of children collapses suddenly and there is a lot of bleeding," Chandra Vijay Singh, the Firozabad district magistrate, said earlier.

A six-member team from the NCDC, or National Centre for Disease Control - consisting of entomologists and experts in vector-borne diseases - has been rushed to the affected areas.

The team is expected to submit its report Monday.

"The central medical team, under the leadership of Tushar N Nale from the National Centre for Disease Control, visited us to look at the situation," Alok Kumar Sharma, the Officiating Superintendent of the government medical college at Firozabad, told news agency PTI.

Apart from Firozabad, other districts in western UP - like Mathura and Agra - have also reported an increase in cases, and hospitals are overflowing with patients suffering viral fever and dehydration.

In Mathura, which is 60 km from Firozabad, 11 children died in 15 days - all from one village. The state government said the deaths were due to vector-borne diseases, primarily dengue.

Yogi Adityanath has visited Firozabad and said all measures will be taken to help patients. The district's top health official was transferred out after the Chief Minister's visit.