14 September,2016 09:49 AM IST | | Agencies
Five deaths reported till Tuesday, while five more occurred yesterday
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New Delhi: Five more deaths from chikungunya complications were reported yesterday at a private hospital in Delhi, taking the number of fatalities due to the vector-borne disease in the national capital, which is grappling with a severe health crisis, to 10.
All five deaths took place in Apollo Hospital and most of the victims were aged 80 and above.
"We have had five deaths in the past three weeks of patients with chikungunya fever, most of whom were elderly. 80-year-old Mahendra Singh from Ghaziabad died of chikungunya complications yesterday afternoon," hospital authorities said.
"Most of them had associated co-morbid disease conditions and complications, such as chronic kidney disease and coronary artery disease, which affect the course of recovery," the hospital said.
Viral onslaught
Five deaths from chikungunya were reported till Tuesday in the city that is battling a viral onslaught of this disease after nearly 10 years. Four of these deaths took place at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH).
Doctors say chikungunya is not a life-threatening disease in general, but in rare cases leads to complications that prove fatal, especially in children and the elderly.
Incidentally, one suspected chikungunya death has also been reported at AIIMS, but hospital authorities are yet to confirm it.
