The Centre said that a majority of children’s deaths in Uttar Pradesh’s (UP) Firozabad district occurred due to dengue, as well as scrub typhus, and leptospirosis. A letter was sent to the UP Chief Secretary Rajendra Kumar Tiwari by the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan. He stated that the central team has found that majority of cases of viral fever and deaths among children in Firozabad were due to dengue, and a few cases were due to scrub typhus and leptospirosis.
He also stated that vector indices were also found to be high with both the house index and container index above 50 per cent in Firozabad. A team of doctors from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the National Vector-Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) were sent to probe the deaths of children in Firozabad. The central team has recommended continuing activities related to fever survey, vector control, and fever camps as per the micro plan submitted by it.
