Delhi reports 300 more dengue cases in a week; malaria, chikungunya cases on rise too

New Delhi: Delhi has reported over 300 more dengue cases in the past seven days, as mosquito-borne diseases seemingly are on a slow but steady rise in the national capital, according to official data.

Cases of malaria are considerably higher so far when compared to last year. Delhi has already reported 363 malaria cases till this month while the figure stood at 294 in the corresponding month in 2023.

The total malaria cases last year were 426. Most malaria cases are reported from the West Delhi zone.

As for Chikungunya, 43 cases have been reported so far. This is nearly double that last year when the figure stood at 23. A total of 65 cases of the virus were reported last year. The most number of chikungunya cases have been reported from the South Delhi zone this year.

Last week, the city witnessed a spike of nearly 250 cases of dengue in seven days, PTI reported.

So far, a total of 1,229 dengue cases have been reported in the city with the death of a 54-year-old registered in Lok Nayak Hospital, a senior official at the hospital confirmed.

As per the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's data till September 21, Delhi reported 651 cases of dengue this month. Last month, a total of 256 dengue cases were reported in the city. The number of cases has become three digits since August.

These numbers, however, are comparatively lower than the number of cases reported last year collectively as well as on month on month basis.

Last year, Delhi reported 3,013 dengue cases till the corresponding month, a manifold increase from 525 in 2022. A total of 9,266 cases were reported in the entire year while 19 dengue deaths were registered in the city last year.

In September alone, the figure stood at 2,141 cases in 2023.

The most number of cases this year are reported from the Najafgarg zone at 180. In a week, 45 cases have been reported in the area, the highest of all the zones besides the south zone where an equal number of cases were reported this week.

The non-MCD areas governed by other agencies like NDMC, Delhi Cantt, and Railways, reported 312 dengue cases to the total tally, as per the data.

The figure does not include patients who acquired the infection and are not Delhi residents, those who gave incomplete or wrong addresses, and addresses where the patient was not found.

The civic body officials said the agency has been able to keep the number of dengue cases less this year due to their multi-pronged efforts to combat vector-borne diseases which includes house-to-house inspections, regular insecticide spraying, and public awareness campaigns.

To enforce mosquito control laws, the MCD has issued over 1.14 lakh legal notices and 39,338 challans to those who allowed mosquito breeding on their properties. Repeat offenders have been fined Rs 24.82 lakh, and police complaints have been filed against 9,241 people who didn't follow the rules, as per the data. The civic body also plans to increase fogging operations at major upcoming public events like Dussehra and Durga Puja and step up inspections and anti-larval measures in areas with high mosquito populations to curb the infectivity of the virus.