A north Calcutta resident who died in hospital early on Saturday had “dengue fever” written on his death certificate.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation, however, contested that the man had dengue, pointing to a negative test report.

Bittu Singh, 36, a resident of Manik Bose Ghat Street in Jorabagan, was admitted to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital at 12.06am on Saturday and passed away at 1.30am.

The death certificate mentioned “hypovolemic shock, haemorrhage and dengue fever” as the causes of death.

The mayor of Calcutta, Firhad Hakim, said an IgM test conducted on Singh had yielded a negative result.

“If he tested negative, how can dengue be a cause of death? We need evidence to prove he had dengue,” Hakim said.

The test was not done at RG Kar. A senior official at RG Kar said they received a call from the KMC. “The KMC official told us that this cannot be called a dengue infection. We are looking into this matter,” said the official.

“An IgM dengue test is conducted if the fever has been there for five days or more. In this case, the test was conducted on Friday, by when the fever was already five days old,” said a senior doctor of the KMC.

A senior KMC official said: “We have seen the treatment papers. He was admitted on Saturday, the sixth day of fever. An IgM test was done on Friday. He tested negative. We will send the papers to Swasthya Bhavan to inquire if this can be called a dengue death.”

A 69-year-old woman from Rajarhat who had tested positive for dengue died
at a private hospital on Saturday.

Health department officials and doctors said fewer dengue cases have been reported in Bengal this year compared to last year but warned against dropping the guard as the dengue season is not yet over.

So far this year, in the Calcutta municipal area, around 865 dengue cases have been reported, said a health department official.

In the corresponding period in 2023, the same area recorded about 12,343 cases.

“The number has gone down because we have taken suitable preventive measures. But we should not let our guard down,” said Hakim.

But public health experts said this is often the worst time of the year for dengue. Civic oversight during the long festive season often creates new mosquito breeding sites and they come to notice only after the disease takes menacing proportions.