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The National Capital Region has recorded its first confirmed dengue fatality of the season, a stark reminder of the escalating health crisis posed by vector-borne diseases in the post-monsoon period. Ashish Bhati, a 48-year-old Assistant General Manager in the Institution Department of the Noida administration, succumbed to the illness on Tuesday morning at Apollo Hospitals in Delhi. The tragic death of the dedicated officer, who had worked with the Noida Authority for 18 years and was the son of former Uttar Pradesh minister Harish Chandra Bhati, underscores the critical nature of the current dengue outbreak.

Bhati’s ordeal began with a viral fever on September 30, which rapidly worsened. His father reported that the fever spiked to a dangerously high 104 degrees Fahrenheit by October 3, prompting the family to rush him to a private hospital in Noida. However, his condition deteriorated sharply, with his blood pressure dropping and him losing consciousness, leading to his urgent referral to Apollo Hospitals in Delhi on October 4. Upon admission in a critical state late on Saturday night, he was diagnosed with dengue, and despite being put on a ventilator and dialysis as his platelets plummeted and kidneys failed, he suffered multi-organ failure and passed away early Tuesday morning.

The high-profile death has immediately sparked a jurisdictional dispute between authorities, with health officials in both Delhi and Noida attempting to shift the responsibility for recording the fatality. Delhi officials insisted that the case be counted by Noida, where the mosquito bite is presumed to have occurred, while the Chief Medical Officer of Gautam Budh Nagar (Noida) stated that the information would only be released following cross-notification from Delhi, as the death occurred there. This bureaucratic wrangling comes amid a significant rise in dengue cases across the NCR. Official data reveals Delhi has recorded 840 dengue cases until October 6, and Noida has logged 430, although authorities had officially recorded no fatalities in either jurisdiction before Bhati’s death. In response to the first fatality, the Noida administration has swiftly launched a month-long, intensified fogging and anti-larval drive, targeting hotspots where stagnant water has created ideal conditions for the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the vector responsible for transmitting the deadly virus.