A 35-year-old man died of suspected dengue in a private hospital on Wednesday here, at a time the disease is stalking the capital despite the slide in temperature that normally signals the end of the mosquito-borne viral infection.
This year, there is no such reprieve. RIMS, the largest government hospital in Jharkhand, has treated over 300 dengue patients, the highest ever figure in Ranchi.
Many patients are still undergoing treatment at the isolation ward of RIMS. The rush is such that many of them have been kept on the floor.
The isolation ward, which has 36 beds, had 42 patients on Wednesday afternoon when The Telegraph team went to RIMS. The ward had one nurse.
“Don’t you see I am alone. Please wait,” the nurse was heard shouting at a man who approached her to ask when his wife would get medicines.
Nurse-in-charge Ram Rekha Singh gave medical advice to patients getting discharged. To a Jharkhand Jaguar jawan, she said: “You had both chikungunya and dengue. You have to take care for a month to fully recover from dengue and one full year to fully recover from chikungunya. Keep your body covered. Use a mosquito net when you sleep and mosquito repellent cream when you venture out. Take plenty of water and eat food with less spice and oil,” she said.
A resident of Hindpiri, Mohammed Shahjad said as many as 10 of his neighbours were being treated for dengue at RIMS at present. “My wife Husna Ara is among them. She is on the floor,” he said.
Nurse-in-charge Singh said Samna Khatoon from Chanho was admitted on Wednesday. “It is the first dengue case from Chanho. It appears that dengue has reached there from Gumla,” she said.
A RIMS employee said this year so far they had treated more than 300 dengue patients while more were coming. “As many as five were released on Wednesday but seven new patients were admitted. During 2013 to 2018, the dengue patient count ranged between 50 and 250. Look at the spurt this year,” the employee said.
There are more dengue cases in Ranchi now than in East Singhbhum. The number of dengue positive cases till November 12, 2019, in East Singhbhum, is 293, but no casualty has been reported yet.
The dengue death that occurred on Wednesday was that of Izhar Gaddi, 35, a resident of Doranda, who was admitted to Medanta Hospital on November 9 after his family members decided they were not happy with his treatment at RIMS, where he was admitted on November 8. Ranchi civil surgeon Dr Vijay Bihari Prasad said he could not confirm the death as he was out of town.
A doctor of RIMS in the medicine department, Rashmi Sinha, said there had been a drastic change in the climate of the state. “Earlier, by November, people wore sweaters. Yes, there has been a dip in temperature but there is no threat to mosquitoes yet. Yes, extensive cleanliness and fogging are required,”she said.
