5-year-old girl dies in Ggn due to suspected case of diphtheria

Gurugram: A five-year-old girl has died due to the suspected case of diphtheria. The deceased whose family belonged to Uttar Pradesh resided in Badhshapur area. In the first week of September, the girl identified as Nazneen contracted the bacterial disease. After getting treatment in one of the local hospitals, her family took her to a government hospital in Delhi were she finally breathed her last in the last week of September. The health authorities as of now have not officially confirmed that the real cause of her death is Diphtheria. Of late, there has been a sudden surge of Diphtheria in Gurugram where a dozen of cases has been suspected.

They are not officially being registered as most of the patients are being referred to Delhi for treatment. Just like the national Capital, even Gurugram is facing a severe shortage of anti-diphtheria serum which has led to a large number of casualties, especially among the minors.

"This year due to some logistic challenges, there has been a shortage of the vaccine. This has complicated the matters and there have been a large number of casualties in Delhi," said a senior doctor from Gurugram Civil hospital.

The gravity of Diphtheria can be gauged from the fact that in Delhi there have been 30 deaths due to the disease. Even the adjoining regions around the National Capital are not safe with 10 deaths being already reported from Mewat. "Diphtheria is a bacterial disease and its common symptoms include, sore throat, fever, cough, running nose, swelling in the neck, fall in blood pressure and irregular pulse," said a senior doctor from Civil Hospital, Gurugram.

"If the toxin reaches heart muscles or larynx or voice box or nervous system, the anti-diphtheria serum then proves ineffective and that is also becoming the cause of death. August, September, and October are the peak months for contracting the disease," he further added.