A Baby and a Child Die of Dengue

A nine-month baby boy passed away at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) Monday night, while under care for dengue fever. Zeenath Ali Habeeb, a media official from the IGMH said that the child was admitted in the hospital on the 26th of this month, and that its condition had deteriorated since. The baby was under intensive care when it passed during midnight.

According to information communicated to Sun, the baby who passed away is, from M. Atoll Vayvah, and his name was Mohamed Hamees.

Within 24 hours, another child has also passed away due to severe dengue. Aishath Hibaa, a six year old girl from AA. Thoddou island died yesterday evening, after she was brought from an island to Male’ due to severe fever and admitted at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital.

The Centre for Health and Disease Control says that dengue fever has been spreading in many parts of the country at an epidemic level, and that the rate of infection is currently “at peak”. Fathimath Nazla, a medical officer at the Centre, informed Sun yesterday that this is the first time that dengue fever has started spread at such an alarming speed since 2006. She said that the Centre is putting all efforts both in Male’ and in the islands to stop the outbreak. However, she expressed concerns over lack of cooperation from some people in Male’.

According to the statistics collected by the Centre for Health and Disease Control, until last June, 1289 people had been diagnosed with dengue fever, while the number until the end of last year stood at 401.

Meanwhile, the cabinet of Ministers had today decided to take special measures to control mosquitoes, as this is the most significant cause of the epidemic spread of dengue fever in the country. An announcement from the President’s Office yesterday assured that the special program would be launched next week and that it would be conducted sustainably.