With 485 cases of dengue reported in the national Capital over the last week, the total number of people affected by the disease has reached 2,215 this season, according to a municipal report released on Monday. The number of people affected by malaria this year till September 16, has climbed to 869 in which 157 new cases were recorded in a week, while the figure for chikungunya stands at 472 with 40 new cases reported in the previous week.
When asked about the spiraling cases of vector-borne diseases, a senior official of the Corporation said that the introduction of the concept of the dengue, free cooler is an environment-friendly initiative and will be taken up at war footing to generate awareness among the people. “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,” he said.
It may be recalled that a 12-year-old boy had succumbed to dengue shock syndrome on August 1 of this year, at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, the first death due to the vector-borne disease reported in the city this season.
The National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR) had already found two new species of Anopheles Stephensi (urban vector) and Anopheles Culicifacies (rural vector) circulating this year. The parasitic infection was lying dormant after mutating, but it has made a comeback after a gap of five years at a time when Delhi is already reeling under the scourge of dengue and
chikungunya.
Experts have raised the red flag after the resurgence of this deadly parasite and have advised Government agencies to take adequate measures to arrest the spread of this deadly infectious disease that can play havoc with people’s health.
At least 21 deaths due to dengue were reported last year at various hospitals, including the nine at AIIMS, though the official tallies of the civic bodies stood at 10. Seventeen deaths suspected to be due to malaria in 2016 were also reported by the civic bodies.
At least 15 fatalities were reported last year at various hospitals in the city due to complications triggered by chikungunya, though the civic bodies have 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, out of which 9,749 were confirmed.