AGRA: Four children, all below the age of 10, have died of fever in the last 24 hours.
According to health department sources, 50 people, including 40 children, with fever and dengue-like symptoms have died in the district in the last one month.
Till Wednesday afternoon, 250 dengue cases were confirmed in Agra district.
With government centres in rural areas grappling with poor infrastructure, over 5,000 people are trying to recuperate at their homes.
A majority of them are dependent on quacks. So far, deaths have been reported from Bah, Pinahat, Fatehpur Sikri in Agra rural, Tedi Bagia under Itmad-ud-daulah police station, Etmadpur and other areas of the district.
The five children to have died in the last 24 hours include Divya, 8, from Tedi Bagiya, Shivani, 4, from Nagla Imali, Uma, 7, from Mudiyapura village, Laxmi, 3-month-old, from Gangaran Pura and Nitin, 8, from Mohan Sarai.
The grieving father of three-month-old Laxmi, BP Singh said, “My daughter was had fever for the last four days. As no doctor was available at government centre, we got medicines prescribed from a private clinic. On Wednesday, her condition deteriorated and she died on the way to SN Medical College.”
A resident of Midkoli village under Bah block, Mukesh Chaudhary, said, “Five people have died of fever in the last one week. There is not even a single house in the village where a person is not suffering from high fever and dengue-like symptoms. Community health centre is not admitting patients. District hospital and SN Medical College are over 60km away from the village. Patients are suffering at home for lack of medical intervention.”
Chief medical officer, Agra district, Arun Kumar Srivastava said, “Health department teams are conducting door-to-door surveys in rural areas to identify such patients. Medical camps are being organised in the affected areas. Cleanliness work and anti-larvae spraying are also being carried out.”
