Five chikungunya deaths in Apollo, toll in Delhi now 10

NEW DELHI: Five deaths were reported, including of an 80-year-old man, from Indraprastha Apollo Hospital due to complications triggered by chikungunya fever, taking the death toll from the vector borne disease to 10 on Wednesday.

Ganga Ram Hospital has reported four chikungunya deaths since September 13, while Bara Hindu Rao Hospital recorded its first death on September 1.

The deaths in Apollo took place over the past three weeks.

"We have had five deaths in the past three weeks of patients with chikungunya fever, most of whom were elderly and had associated co-morbid disease conditions and complications like chronic kidney disease, coronary artery disease, which affect the course of recovery," said a statement from Apollo hospital.

An 80-year-old patient named Mahendra Singh was the last to die at Indraprastha Apollo. Singh died due to multi organ failure triggered by chikungunya.

"The patient had multi-organ failure triggered by chikungunya and died on September 13 evening," a senior official of the hospital said.

The hospital is managing patients with fever, including chikungunya and dengue, as per prescribed guidelines, said the hospital.

Delhi so far has witnessed the death of 10 patients, who were suffering from chikungunya along with other health ailments also.

Medical Science says that nobody categorically dies of chikungunya, but if the patient is suffering from some other health issue, it may get aggravated, leading to death.