The city has registered 735 new cases of dengue and 76 new cases of chikungunya this week causing a sharp spike in the number of cases in the city, according to a municipal report released on Monday. The total number of dengue and chikungunya cases now stands at 7,358 and 828 respectively. The number of malaria cases reported this month till November 3 stands at 1,098 as 16 fresh cases have been reported in a week period.
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), which tabulates data for the entire city, however, has not acknowledged the fatalities at the lNJP Hospital and kept the official toll at four.
Recently a 26-year-old Moajeba, a resident of the Delhi's Arbindo marg, died at Max Super Specialty Hospital. Earlier, a 26-year-old Manipuri woman Rhoda Daimai, who was living in south Delhi's Sarita Vihar, died at the Holy Family Hospital in August, while 49-year-old Meena Devi, hailing from Bihar, died of dengue shock syndrome on September 2 at the SGRH and a 12-year-old boy had succumbed to dengue shock syndrome on August 1 at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, the first death due to the vector-borne disease reported in the city this season,” according to civic authorities.
However, a senior official of the Corporation said that all the measures are being taken to reduce breeding. “Besides, awareness are also being spread among masses,” he said.
Cases of vector-borne diseases are usually reported between mid-July and November-end. This year, however, it has been much earlier. Dengue and chikungunya are caused by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which breeds in clear water. The female Anopheles mosquito, which causes malaria, can breed in both fresh and muddy water.
According to the SDMC, mosquito breeding has been reported from 199801 households in Delhi this year till October 28 and 162333 legal notices have been issued for mosquitogenic condition so far.
At least 21 deaths due to dengue were reported last year from various city hospitals, including nine at AIIMS, though the official figure of the civic bodies stood at 10.
Seventeen deaths, suspected to be due to malaria, were also reported by civic bodies last year. At least 15 fatalities were reported last year from various city hospitals due to complications triggered by chikungunya, though civic authorities kept the death tally at zero. One of the worst outbreaks of chikungunya was in 2016 when 12,221 cases were reported till December 24, 2016. Of these, 9,749 were confirmed.
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.