Chikungunya is taking its toll in Delhi, with at least four deaths due to the vector-borne disease reported in the last two days in the national capital where its number of cases have crossed over 1,000 this season. Of the three fatalities recorded, two of them took place at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital yesterday while a 22-year-old girl succumbed to the disease on September 1 at Hindu Rao Hospital, officials said. 65-year-old Ramendra Pandey had also died of chikungunya at the same hospital, in what could be the first such death in the national capital. However, when questioned about the deaths, AAP Health Minister Satyendar Jain became defensive and instead blamed the media. He told ANI: “2 MCD Mayors are out of Delhi, ask them why? Their only work is to ensure cleanliness. There are only 40% beds under Delhi Govt. We're not denying anyone bed & have made all facilities available to deal with such cases.”

When asked by a reporter that Delhi kiskay bharosay?, the AAP minister replied: “Modi Bharosay aur LG bharosay.” He went on to add: “There has never been any death due to chikungunya in the world. This is media created panic. Please don't spread panic. Prove it medically (death due to chikungunya), medically chikungunya can never be cause of anyone's death. There is no outbreak (of chikungunya). It has been created by you (media) by spreading panic.”

Reporter: Delhi kiskay bharosay? Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain: Modi Bharosay aur LG bharosay pic.twitter.com/UmWJbohsmO September 13, 2016

Dr B S Rana, Chairman, Board of Management of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said all the three deaths which took place , the victims were above 60 years. "Uday Shanker of Dwarka was admitted on September 11 and he died on September 12. His RT-PCR test for chikungunya had come positive. He had come to our OPD and then admitted. "Ashok Chauhan, 62, from Aligarh also died of chikungunya yesterday. He too was admitted in ICU on September 11 and his RT-PCR test came positive," hospital authorities said. Doctors say that chikungunya is not a life-threatening disease in general, but in rare cases leads to complications that prove fatal, especially in children and old persons.

Incidentally, Isha of Kabir Nagar area, died at Hindu Rao Hospital, one of the biggest municipal hospitals in Delhi, due to "complications triggered by chikungunya". "She was admitted on August 26 at the hospital. Her chikungunya test had come positive. She died due to cardiac arrest triggered by complications from chikungunya," a senior doctor at the Hindu Rao Hospital said. Pandey, who was referred to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital from a Ghaziabad hospital, had succumbed to the disease at the hospital at 4 AM after suffering chikungunya with sepsis. Incidentally, one suspected chikungunya death has also been reported at the AIIMS, but hospital authorities are yet to confirm it.

"We are yet to confirm if the death was due to chikungunya. But till then it is a suspected case," AIIMS spokesperson Amit Gupta said. According to reports, the "chikungunya death" at the AIIMS took place sometime in September. Chikungunya cases in the national capital have sharply risen to over 1,000 this season, marking a jump of nearly 90 per cent from its count last week.

According to a municipal report released yesterday, at least 1,057 cases of this vector-borne disease have been recorded till September 10, however, hospitals in the city altogether are reporting much higher number. Authorities at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said, Pandey was kept under the care of a team of specialist. Lalit Dar of Department of Microbiology at AIIMS said, "At our laboratories, 1,360 chikungunya blood test samples have tested positive till September 11. Cases are rising and more and more people are getting affected."

With inputs from PTI and ANI