Two more dengue deaths in Delhi take toll to 18

Two more deaths, suspected to be from dengue, have been reported in the national capital, taking the toll so far to 18. However, officially the dengue deaths stand only at five.

Parents of a three-and-half years old Neha Mathur alleged that their daughter died on Wednesday due to dengue. But two city hospitals did not recommend dengue tests for the girl, they added.

Nine-year-old Sabreena Fatima died due to dengue at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital on Tuesday, said a hospital source. She was brought to the hospital from Abul Fazal Enclave in south Delhi.

According to Neha's father Vinod Mathur, who is a resident of Sangam Vihar, his daughter was taken to Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital and Hamdard Majeedia Hospital where she was treated for acidity and doctors did not recommend tests for dengue for two days.

However, Mathur added, the girl was diagnosed with dengue at Saket City hospital and she succumbed to the virus there.

"We first took her to Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital, where they (doctors) said she had acidity, prescribed medicines and let us go. Doctors at Hamdard Hospital said the same thing."

"But they did not recommend any test for dengue. Then we took her to Saket City hospital on Wednesday morning. Her tests were done and it was found to be positive for dengue. She was kept in the ICU for two hours where she died around 2 p.m. yesterday (Wednesday)," said Vinod.

According to an official at Saket City hospital, complete blood count test was done at the hospital to detect the number of platelets in the blood, which showed that her platelet count was only 10,000.

But the girl's father said: "I got the test done for platelet count on September 14 at a private lab, where it was around 165,000."