| ■ New Delhi urges calm after outbreak | 06.10.05 |
| Authorities in New Delhi on Tuesday called for calm after an outbreak of dengue fever killed 15 people and infected hundreds of others in the capital and other parts of northern India. New Delhi Health Minister Yoganand Shastri held an emergency meeting with local hospital administrators, demanding that medical officials take strict action to fight against the spread of the virulent ailment. "There is no need to panic and we are not declaring it an epidemic yet," Shastri told reporters after the meeting. So far, 497 cases of the mosquito-borne disease have been reported in New Delhi and 11 people have died, he said. The disease also has hit New Delhi's neighboring states ﾂ・Uttar Pradesh reporting three deaths and Haryana one since Saturday. Thirty-three people have fallen ill with dengue in Haryana state, Press Trust of India news agency reported Tuesday. New Delhi is filled with pools of stagnating water where the insects breed ﾂ・and on Monday, thousands of health workers went door to door, spraying pesticides to try to stop the disease's spread. Dengue symptoms include high fever, joint pain, headache and vomiting. It is fatal in some cases. Shastri also advised school children to wear long-sleeve shirts to school to prevent against mosquito bites. One of the country's premier state-run health institutes has also been hit by the disease. At the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, 19 doctors and students have fallen ill with dengue, and one has died, officials said. An awareness campaign on preventing the spread of the disease will also be intensified, he said. Yahoo Healthday |