A MYSTERIOUS illness is rapidly spreading through a northern state of India, killing dozens of children as well as adults.
As the country appears to slowly recover from a deadly second wave of coronavirus, the deaths in Uttar Pradesh have provoked panic among its hospitals.
In the past week, at least 50 people – mostly children – have died of the fever, and several hundred have been admitted to hospital.
Many of them complained of joint pains, headaches, dehydration and nausea.
In some cases, the patients also suffer from declining platelets, a crucial part of the circulation system that allows blood to clot.
Physicians in a few of the affected districts – Agra, Mathura, Mainpuri, Etah, Kasganj and Firozabad – believe dengue, a mosquito-borne viral infection, could be the main cause of deaths.
They say the symptom of declining platelets characterises as a severe form of dengue.
All of the patients have been tested for coronavirus, and no link has been found between the two illnesses so far.
The mystery illness is putting a particular strain on hospitals in the city of Firozabad.
Neeta Kulshrestha, the most senior health official of Firozabad district, said: "The patients, especially children, in hospitals are dying very quickly".
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath pledged to help families of people with the disease.
"The dedicated COVID-19 ward at the district hospital of Firozabad is reserved for patients suffering from this fever," he said.
The country has already been overwhelmed by Covid-19, particularly by the Delta variant which originated from there.
Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection, found in tropical and sub-tropical climates worldwide, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas.
Transmitted by female mosquitoes, dengue is mainly a tropical disease and has been circulating in India for hundreds of years.
While many infections produce only mild illness, cases can develop potentially lethal complications.
According to the World Health Organisation, in its most severe form, there is no specific treatment.
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