With 756 new cases of dengue reported in the national Capital over the last week, the total number of people affected by the disease has reached 3,865 this season, according to a municipal report released on Tuesday. The number of people affected by malaria this year till September 30, has climbed to 995 while the figure for chikungunya stands at 589 with 56 new cases reported in the previous week.
Senior officials of the Corporation said that the Education and Communication (IEC) campaigns to generate awareness among the people have been stepped up. “The maximum breeding of Aedes mosquito, which causes dengue and chikungunya takes place in desert coolers so we have already instructed manufacturers to sell dengue-free cooler. This initiative would help in containing the number of cases of these diseases,” they said.
A senior official of the Health Department of the North Corporation said, “We have taken preventive measures to reduce mosquito-borne diseases this time. Dengue breeding checkers has been instructed to identify breeding spots and control them. Our hospitals have been earmarked with sufficient beds only for dengue and chikungunya patients,” the official added.
A special fever clinic ward is being operated in the north Corporation-run hospitals with facilities such as medicine counter, lab to test blood sample, a team of experts, including doctors, lab technicians, pharmacists and others are available at one place. “The blood banks at the fever clinics are also prepared to deal with the immediate requirements. Further, enough manpower with new and updated pieces of equipment has been deployed. A blood bank in charge will be held responsible in case of any shortage. Emergency lab services have been set up to provide round the clock by providing adequate staff providing all resources and developing a fast system of delivering patient reports,” the official said.
Vector-borne diseases are reported between mid-July and November-end. Cases of all the three vector-borne diseases were reported much earlier this time, which doctors had attributed to the early arrival of the monsoon. Dengue and chikungunya are caused by Aedes agypti mosquito, which breeds in clear water. Anopheles mosquito, which causes malaria, can breed in both fresh and muddy water.
According to the report, breeding of mosquitoes has been reported at 1,74,593 households in Delhi while 1,43,655 legal notices have been issued. All the three municipal corporations have stepped up awareness drives — distributing pamphlets and plying vehicles with loudspeakers issuing dos and don’ts for prevention of the diseases.
It may be recalled that a 12-year-old boy had succumbed to dengue shock syndrome on August 1 at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here, the first death due to the vector-borne disease reported in the city this season.
At least 21 deaths due to dengue were reported last year from various city hospitals, including nine at the AIIMS, though the official figure of the civic bodies stood at 10. Seventeen deaths, suspected to be due to malaria, were also reported by the civic bodies last year.
At least 15 fatalities were reported last year from various city hospitals due to complications triggered by chikungunya, though the civic bodies had kept the death tally at zero.
In one of the worst outbreaks, a total of 12,221 chikungunya cases were reported in Delhi till December 24, 2016, of which 9,749 were confirmed.