UP: Over 12,000 in grip of viral fever in Firozabad

More than 12,000 people in Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad district are suffering from viral fever, according to the state health department officials.

Four more deaths have been reported from the district in the past 24 hours, taking the toll to 114 that includes 88 children.

The deaths have continued despite widespread fogging and door-to-door surveys to drain out stagnant water and to check the spread of vector-borne diseases.

Veer Pal, a daily wager, who lost his five-year-old son due to lack of treatment on Sunday, told reporters, that a private hospital in the city had demanded Rs 30,000 in advance to start treatment.

"I requested them to start treatment and give me time to arrange money, but they refused. Later, I took my child to the Firozabad Medical College, where staff refused to admit my child as beds were not available. I arranged for a private taxi to take him to Agra, but my son died on the way," he said.

Chief Medical Superintendent (CMS) of Firozabad Medical College, Hansraj Singh, said that no official complaint was made in the matter.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dinesh Kumar Premi said there are 64 active camps in the district and 4,800 people, including those with fever, are undergoing treatment there.

According to the health department officials, 578 cases of dengue have been confirmed in Firozabad so far.

A few cases of malaria, scrub typhus - a bacterial illness spread by larval mites, leptospirosis, another bacterial disease spread through the urine of infected animals, have also been reported.

Diarrhoea has also emerged as a threat for children.

Additional Director of the health department, A.K. Singh, said that over 100 teams of health staff are conducting door-to-door surveys to identify patients and provide them with medicines and required assistance.

"There is no shortage of platelets or required medicines at the government centres. Additional ambulances have been arranged to take patients to hospital," he asserted.

"Civic body teams are carrying out special cleanliness drives in the affected areas and all the recent deaths are being investigated," Singh added.