‘Fever survey in Dum Dum dengue death zone reveals no fresh case'
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Kolkata: A door-to-door fever survey in the Dum Dum neighbourhood, where a 13-year-old girl, Saroni Banerjee, a class VII student, died due to dengue on Saturday, has not revealed any fresh case, municipality officials said on Sunday.
Dum Dum Municipality chairman Harendra Singh expressed shock over the girl's death and claimed only two dengue cases — including Saroni's — were reported in the municipality this year. "We were surprised because there were no other reported cases in her locality. She recently travelled to Digha with her family, and we suspect she might have contracted dengue there," the chairman told TOI. Singh added that civic health officials visited Saroni's neighbourhood after her diagnosis and were monitoring the area.
Anti-larval spraying and clean-up drives are currently being carried out.
Family members confirmed Saroni developed a fever on June 9, shortly after Digha trip. "Our local doctor was treating her. But when her condition worsened, we rushed her to South Dum Dum Municipal Hospital, where she received no proper medical attention," alleged her mother, Gitika Banerjee, an ASHA worker attached to Dum Dum Municipality.
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Saroni's death certificate cited "septic shock and dengue shock syndrome" as the immediate cause of death, with "multi-organ failure" and "disseminated intravascular coagulation".
During a field visit conducted by a TOI team, open garbage heaps and stagnant water reservoirs were found in the locality near Saroni's home. "Just a little rain causes knee-deep waterlogging here. During the monsoon, the situation becomes worse as drainage is completely ineffective," said a local shopkeeper.
The adjoining South Dum Dum Municipality chairperson, Kousturi Chowdhury, denied any dengue cases in her area. "We have taken year-round preventive steps and launched aggressive drives to destroy mosquito-breeding sites," she said.
The South Dum Dum area was severely hit by dengue in 2023, with eight deaths and around 1,000 dengue cases. In the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) area of Salt Lake and Rajarhat Gopalpur, officials said fewer than 20 dengue cases had been reported since Jan till date this year. The authorities have already started their yearly dengue control drive. In New Town, the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) is to take up an anti-dengue drive like last year.
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