Beware if you are grounded by flu! This ‘mysterious fever’ claims 84 deaths in UP

Lucknow, September 22: More than 100 teams of medical experts have been deployed in seven districts of Uttar Pradesh and a high alert has been sounded on the order of UP CM Yogi Adityanath following deaths of at least 84 people since August due to a 'mysterious' fever.

According to reports, 24 people have died in Bareilly, 23 in Badaun, 17 in Hardoi, six in Bahraich, eight in Sitapur, four in Pilibhit and two have died in Shahjahanpur district in the last 45 days.

According to a detailed press release issued by UP health department, "There is no mysterious fever in these districts and people have died due to seasonal fever, malaria, and typhoid. More than 192 teams of medical experts have been deployed in the affected areas and there is no dearth of treatment equipment and medicines required."

"Medical camps have been set up in affected areas and people are being checked up through rapid diagnostic test kit (RPDT). We are also spreading awareness among the people, especially in rural areas. They are being told to consult only government doctors and experts and refrain from visiting quacks even if suffering from a minor fever," the state government's statement read.

Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Sidharth Nath Singh said people take their sick relatives to quacks first, and approach authorized health officials only after things have gone out of control. This, he asserted, was one of the main reasons for the high casualty rate.

UP Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh has already visited the affected districts on the directives of CM Adityanath. Proper medical care is being given to those affected and the situation has improved a lot. Anticidel and Larvicidel sprays are used in areas where malaria is becoming an epidemic.

Government officials, however, had initially said that they were caught off the guard and were unable to identify the exact cause of people dying of fever.