PHOTOS: PTI, V.V. KRISHNAN

HOPE AND DESPAIR: A patient with symptoms of dengue outside the emergency ward of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi on Thursday. (Below) people donating blood for dengue patients at the AIIMS. Large numbers from Sirsa in Haryana volunteered.

NEW DELHI: The dengue death toll rose to 18 in the capital on Thursday with two more casualties in the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Yet another patient died of suspected dengue in a private hospital during the day.

With 84 more patients admitted to various hospitals during the past 24 hours, the total number of dengue cases reported till 10 a.m. on Thursday went up to 673 — 409 from Delhi and the remaining are from nearby States.

While Dharam Singh (20) from Badarpur in South Delhi and Laxminarayan (55) from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh died in the AIIMS, the death of Ritika Singh, a teacher of Queen's Mary School, Model Town, and resident of Rohini, due to suspected dengue was reported from Sunder Lal Jain Hospital. Fresh cases of dengue have fuelled the panic associated with the spread of the disease, transmitted by the aedes aegypti mosquito. Over 1,000 patients were screened for the disease in the AIIMS in the past 24 hours. Patients lined up for screening in various other city hospitals also, all of which reported an increased admission of dengue cases in the last 48 hours.

"In the past 24 hours at least 1,000 patients were screened for dengue, of which 34 were admitted to the AIIMS, including nine from the campus. At present, 99 patients are admitted to the hospital; of these 26 are from the campus. Five patients have been discharged in the last 24 hours. Over 100 people donated blood today [Thursday]," said AIIMS Medical Superintendent D. K. Sharma. The patients who died on Thursday had been admitted in the morning in a serious condition.

Speaking about the contingency measures to accommodate the patient turnout, Dr. Sharma said: "Our casualty services are equipped to cope with the increased load of patients. We have also taken a decision to curtail admissions to accommodate dengue patients.

The fever screening clinic area has been enhanced by utilising the attendants' waiting area. Makeshift arrangements using tents have been made for creating a waiting area for attendants of patients. We are organising a public lecture on dengue on Friday and have brought out a booklet for public education."

The institute has put in place an e-mail service — dengueprevention@gmail.com — for patients to clear their doubts about dengue. It will also open a helpline for the public to control the patient inflow to the hospital with fever and suspected dengue.

AIIMS authorities said the dengue scare led to patients with symptoms queuing up at the institute and this created chaos on the campus. There was no shortage of blood at the institute. Blood donation camps were being organised to keep the blood banks adequately stocked.

Meanwhile, the worst hit zones in the city continue to be Najafgarh (58), Shahdara North (50), Karol Bagh (46) and Central (40).

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