A 28-year-old doctor who first reported a fever about a week ago died of dengue on Friday.
Debadyuti Chatterjee was admitted to Belle Vue Clinic on Tuesday. He was shifted on the ventilator the next day.
Chatterjee was an opthalmologist with the Regional Institute of Opthalmology (RIO) on the Calcutta Medical College campus. His eyes were donated to MP Birla Eye Clinic, a unit of Belle Vue.
“His body was donated to SSKM Hospital’s anatomy department,” said Ashim Ghosh, director of RIO, Kolkata.
Chatterjee, who lived in Jadavpur’s Shahidnagar, had complained of fever while he was at RIO, Ghosh said.
He was admitted to Belle Vue on Tuesday, by which time his platelet count had dropped to 8,000, said Pratim Sengupta, a nephrologist at Belle Vue.
He passed away at 4.40am on Friday. The death certificate mentioned “dengue hemorrhagic shock syndrome, dengue hemorrhagic fever” among the causes of death. He had developed diabetes after his kidney transplant, the certificate said.
Chatterjee underwent a kidney transplant in 2013 when he was diagnosed with IgA Nephropathy, an auto-immune disorder that damaged his kidney. “His mother gave him her kidney and he was living with it. There were many restrictions on his food and he was on medication, as a result of which he was immuno-compromised,” said Ghosh.
Chatterjee, who was working as a resident medical officer, completed his MBBS from Burdwan Medical College and MS from RIO, Kolkata.
His father, who teaches in a school near Minto Park, approached Belle Vue officials and said the family wanted to donate the body.
A doctor at SSKM said Chatterjee’s body was donated for medical education. “Medical students learn about the human body through dissection. We thank the doctor’s family for their decision,” the doctor said.
Several deaths from dengue have been reported in the city but the state health department has not disclosed any official death toll.
Two people died of dengue at city hospitals this week.
More infections
A senior official of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation said on Friday that more dengue infections have been reported this year.
“About 2,700 dengue cases have been reported in the city so far this year. This is more than the number reported in the corresponding period last year,” he said.
