Dengue cases continue to increase, 600 cases in the last two weeks in the national capital

At least 285 new dengue cases were reported in the Delhi / NCR region last week, bringing to 1595 the total number of people affected by the disease this year. The total number of reported cases of malaria and chikungunya during the week ending November 3rd is 11 and 4.

The total number of people affected by dengue fever in October alone is 1114, more than three times the last month, while the cases were only 374. No cases were reported during the first three days of November.

Overall, all cases for the three diseases decreased compared to 2017, where chikungunya and malaria were 502 and 552 respectively. Last year at the same time and 133 and 438 this year; while dengue fever was 3,829 at this time last year. Chikungunya has declined sharply in the last two years, with zero cases in November and 54 cases in October.

However, unlike data from the global database, comparing cases from last year, a recent survey report released by a non-profit organization says that more of a lakh case of dengue fever and malaria were listed during a door-to-door research in 2017-2018, which is more than 20 times higher than the cases presented in the reports of the government. This raised several questions about the deletion of data by Delhi municipal corporations.

According to baseline data, information received from various government institutions under the RTI shows that there were 7,153 cases of dengue and 4,205 cases of malaria in Delhi. , while survey data covering the 12 areas of Delhi, where 28,624 households were surveyed, showed that dengue cases reached 1,066,456 and cases of malaria, 1 26,334.

With dengue fever showing a significant increase, authorities are fearful of more patient visits to hospitals and intensive care units.

"Malaria and dengue cases have certainly increased compared to last month, but the situation is much better than last year," says Dr SP Byotra, chief of medicine, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. "It is highly recommended to keep the area dry and protected from mosquito breeding areas, we do not need another outbreak," he adds.