Mumbai parents, schools on dengue alert

On Tuesday, 11-year-old Snehal Sharma was rushed to a doctor by her parents. She had high fever and her parents didn’t want to take a chance, especially after filmmaker Yash Chopra’s death due to dengue. While Snehal’s dengue test was negative, doctors say the Chopra’s death has created a panic.

Schools are taking pre-emptive measures to ensure that diseases like dengue do not spread among students. “Parents want to confirm that their child doesn’t have dengue fever. There is a dengue scare in them but they are not wrong,” said Dr Mukesh Sanklecha, consulting paediatrician at Bombay Hospital. “Last week, we admitted eight patients. These children had low platelet counts, had low-blood pressure and put on intravenous fluid.”  

Dr Prakash Vaidya, consultant paediatrician at Fortis Mulund, said that dengue worry was always there but it had gone up after Chopra’s death. “We are getting many dengue cases in children,” he said.

With the help of civic authorities, schools are conducting anti-mosquito fogging on their campuses. “Though the BMC is supposed to conduct fogging regularly, it doesn’t. So, we have scheduled fogging sessions in the next few days,” said Yogesh Patel, director of Swami Vivekananda International Group of Schools in Kandivli and Malad.

Schools with a sprawling green campus have stepped up efforts for a mosquito-free environment. “It’s the beginning of semester exams and we are ensuring that students do not fall sick. We got the area fogged and took other preventive measures as well,” said Father Francis Swamy of Holy Family School, Andheri.