11-year-old boy succumbs to dengue fever in Bengaluru; septuagenarian dies of Zika virus

Bengaluru, July 6 (IANS) An incident of an 11-year-old boy succumbing to dengue fever came to light here on Saturday. The deceased boy is identified as Gagan, a resident of Anjanapura in the outskirts of Bengaluru.

According to authorities, Gagan was being treated for dengue fever for a few days at a private hospital in Bengaluru and succumbed to the deadly virus on Friday late night. Gagan was a student of Chaitanya Techno School.

In a separate incident, a 74-year-old man died after being infected with Zika virus on Friday night in Gandhinagar in Shivamogga district of the state. The deceased was detected with Zika virus on June 21 and he was suffering from severe fever symptoms since June 19. He was discharged from the hospital on Thursday and was being treated at home.

Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao had asked the Deputy Commissioners in the state to be vigilant about the spread of Zika virus along with dengue cases.

Considering the rising cases of dengue, the state government has capped the prices of dengue testing at Rs 600. Karnataka has witnessed a rise of 42 per cent in dengue cases compared to last year and 6,187 positive cases of dengue have been detected in the state. Six persons have died from January to July 2.