Nine-Year-Old Pune Girl Succumbs to Suspected Dengue Two Days After Admission
A nine-year-old girl from Khese Park in Lohegaon, Pune, died at Ruby Hall Clinic (RHC) on Sunday, October 18, less than 48 hours after being admitted. She had tested positive for dengue through a non-ELISA NS1 antigen test, and the death is being treated as the city's first suspected dengue fatality of the year. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will refer the case to its health audit committee for confirmation and has requested the girl's treatment records and test reports from the hospital.
According to the family's account relayed to the media, the Class IV student developed fever after playing dandiya on the evening of October 17. She was first treated as an outpatient at a private hospital near her home before being admitted to RHC the same day. Consultant paediatrician Dr Prashant Udavant said she had been diagnosed with dengue shock syndrome and dengue-associated haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, a rare, severe inflammatory complication, and that she had a prior history of asthma. Her platelet count fell sharply, and her liver and kidney functions were compromised.
PMC assistant health chief Dr Rajesh Dighe said the rapid deterioration needed closer examination, noting that such sudden deaths are not typical in dengue. The civic body has begun vector-control measures in the area. Its data show 2,160 suspected dengue cases in Pune this year, 97 of them confirmed by the National Institute of Virology, with 497 suspected cases in October alone.
