Hyderabad : Suspected dengue cases in Badi village of Bela mandal in Adilabad district triggered an intensive sanitation and awareness drive by health authorities, but subsequent confirmatory tests conducted at a govt hospital found that the two children at the centre of the scare were not infected with dengue.
Health officials clarified that rapid diagnostic tests can only indicate a suspected dengue infection, while ELISA testing is required to establish a confirmed diagnosis. However, tests conducted later at the govt-run Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Adilabad, found no evidence of dengue infection in either child, raising questions about the preliminary test results from a private hospital. The DMHO advised people with doubts regarding diagnosis or treatment at private hospitals to approach the health department for assistance.
The first case involved a 13-year-old boy from Badi, who was admitted to a private hospital in Adilabad after developing a fever. The family spent Rs 4,000 on the first day of treatment and was told that the total medical bill could go up to Rs 30,000. Following blood tests, his family was informed that he had dengue. Unable to bear the cost, they shifted him to RIMS, where tests conducted the next day ruled out dengue infection. In the second case, a six-and-a-half-year-old boy from the village was admitted to the same private hospital with fever and reportedly tested positive in a preliminary screening. Concerned about his condition, his father took him to Yavatmal in neighbouring Maharashtra, where doctors reportedly found no signs of dengue. The child returned home within two days.