Eleven doctors of the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Aurangabad, have tested positive for dengue, officials said on October 9.

From September this year, dengue has so far claimed the lives of at least seven persons in the city, they said. "The number of dengue-infected people is rising in Aurangabad. Now, 11 doctors and medical students of the GMCH have tested positive for dengue," GMCH superintendent, Dr Kailas Jhine, told PTI.

These doctors and students were admitted to the GMCH, he said, adding that five of them were discharged on Tuesday after treatment, while four others are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) there. "Although they are out of danger, they have been kept under observation. One of the patients was shifted to Mumbai as per the family's request," Jhine added.

GMCH dean Dr Kanan Yelikar said heaps of garbage lying in the city should be blamed for the rising dengue cases. "The garbage issue is indirectly responsible for this," she said. According to her, the GMCH is also facing the problem of shortage of diagnosis kits. "We have demanded funds from the civic body for it.

Presently, we are getting 100 to 150 dengue samples per day," she said. Head of the health department of Aurangabad Municipal Corporation, Dr Neeta Padalkar, said that Rs 2.5 lakh are being transferred to the GMCH for the purchase of kits for dengue tests. "From September, dengue has claimed the lives of seven persons in Aurangabad. Of them six persons died last month," she said.