00:00The father of a 16-year-old Form 4 female student who died two weeks ago after contracting dengue
00:08is tonight calling on the government to do more to educate the public about the current outbreak.
00:14He tells TV6 his daughter started complaining about flu-like symptoms on a Tuesday and by Saturday she was dead.
00:23The 51-year-old Faizabad father of two says his child experienced headaches, fever and loss of appetite.
00:31And when she started getting dizziness, he took her to the Separa Health facility on June 21st.
00:53He says she then appeared to go unresponsive and had to be revived.
01:10She was given two bags of drips and kept overnight to run some tests.
01:15But he says she was cleared and discharged the next morning.
01:18And on returning home, she ate a small meal and went to bed.
01:23About 20 minutes after returning to the Separa Health facility that day, he was told his teenage daughter was dead.
01:52It's a series of events he never imagined would have unfolded.
01:57And while he could hardly find words of advice to other parents,
02:01he urged the government to inform and educate the public about the current dengue outbreak.
02:22More than a week after her death, over in Barakpore, 65-year-old retired prisons officer Sionarain Mahadeo also died as a result of dengue.
02:46The father of two and grandfather of one had been hospitalised for about a week before being taken off life support on July 2nd.
02:56His relatives called for more spraying and the cleaning of clogged water courses and drains in their community
03:04as more than a dozen people on their street got dengue in the past few weeks.
03:10When we contacted Minister of Health Terence Dialsing, he said dengue cases are on the increase worldwide
03:17due to a combination of factors including changing weather patterns associated to climate change.
03:24Minister Dialsing says while spraying is done locally, over-spraying is dangerous
03:32as it can lead to the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes building a resistance
03:36and the chemical can be harmful to human and animal health.
03:40He underscored the importance of source reduction,
03:44the role people have in eliminating breeding sites in and around their homes, schools and workplaces.
03:51He encouraged people to get rid of tyres, derelict vehicles,
03:56to clean guttering and get rid of plant and flower pot sources,
04:00all areas which store clean, clear, stagnant water,
04:05the preferred breeding locations for this particular type of mosquito.
04:10Cindy Raghuba Tika Singh, TV6 News.
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