Mystery fever in Sarfabad village near Noida’s Sector 73 claims 12 lives

2 days ago | Published by : Avinash Nandakumar

NOIDA,August 26: Sarfabad village near Noida’s Sector 73 is in the grip of a mystery fever that, residents say, has claimed 12 lives over the past fortnight. The district administration on Thursday ordered a probe to determine if there’s an outbreak of a disease and whether it is the cause of all the deaths.

Sukhveer Pahalwan, a Sarfabad resident and social activist said more than 100 people were suffering from fever in the village. “There is panic among locals. The administration should quickly control the situation,” he said. Residents allege poor sanitation in the village has led to the situation. Sector 73 and its nearby urbanscape have big housing societies.

The victims are in the age group of 21-72 years. Vipin Sharma, 22, a BA second-year student of Government PG College, Noida, complained of mild fever on August 15 and his family admitted him to hospital, where he was given medicines. Shri Chand Sharma, his grandfather, said the hospital did not admit him because, according to the hospital authorities, he hadn’t shown serious symptoms other than fever.

“On August 16 morning, Vipin suddenly complained of severe chest pain. All family members were just planning to take him to a hospital when he collapsed on the bed and died,” Shri Chand said. The sudden death did not give time to the family to rush him to hospital.

Suresh Singh Yadav, a Sarfabad resident, said that on August 20 his nephew, Gopal Yadav, had also died of fever. “On August 18, he complained of fever and we first took him to a local hospital. When his condition deteriorated, he was then taken to a private hospital in Ghaziabad. Gopal’s blood pressure started decreasing and he did not respond to the treatment and died,” Suresh Singh said. Gopal used to drive heavy vehicles and was a healthy man. Others who reportedly died of fever are Sukhpal (63), Dharamveer (60), Pitam (59), Mange (45), Nitin Kumar (21), Bhauti Devi (72), Shribhan (62), Naurang (65), Manoj (28) and Rajpal (50).

District magistrate N P Singh ordered a probe. “Doctors have been instructed to ensure their presence in OPD. We have formed a committee to investigate the deaths in Sarfabad. The reason for each shall be recorded,” Singh said.

Singh held a meeting with officials of the health department and Noida Authority and directed them to ensure fogging and spraying of anti-larval medicines in the affected areas. The leaves of all doctors have been cancelled in the district. A medical camp ahs been set up in Sarfabad. “We received a total of 350 patients in the camp and found 80 with mild fever. There were five patients who had symptoms of high fever. We prescribed medicines and sent them to the district hospital for proper medical care,” said Narendra Tiwari, a doctor at the camp.

Dr Vijay Deepak Verma, chief medical officer of Gautam Budh Nagar, said the victims had died over a period of two months. “These people died of different illnesses. One person died of heart attack, one of liver failure, and one of cancer. Some people have also reportedly died of high fever. We are taking preventive measures,” he said.

Tags: #Fever, #Noida, #Sarfabad, #Sector73