The dreaded dengue fever has taken its toll in Mohali. A resident of Phase I, Kulwant Kaur, in her early 30s, died on late Tuesday night after a drastic fall in her platelet count at the Fortis Hospital.

Kulwant was suffering from acute fever since October 14, and had initially taken medication from a private practitioner in Phase VI, who then referred her to the PGI, Chandigarh, or Fortis Hospital on October 16, said area municipal councillor Rajinder Prasad Sharma while speaking to Newsline.

He added that Kulwant was admitted in the Fortis Hospital since October 16. During her hospitalisation, she underwent blood transfusion several times to boost her platelet count.

“At one stage, her platelet count had dipped to 30,000 but then recovered to 75,000, giving hope for her discharge,” he added.

“All of a sudden, however, the doctors declared her dead last night,” said Kulwant’s family members.

In a contrasting statement, Fortis Hospital Medical Director Dr Ashok V Chordiya, claimed the patient was brought to the hospital only on Tuesday and that had died within 8 hours of hospitalisation. “She came with acute fever and her platelet count was very low, which is believed to be cause of death,” revealed Dr Chordiya.

The DHO revealed that on coming to know about the dengue death from Civil Surgeon Dr Avtar Singh, he sent a team of officials, led by Epidemiologist Dr Sunita Paul, to visit the area.

“Our team was stunned to find the larvae of the dengue mosquito in stagnant water at the victim’s house,” said Dr Surila.

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