Civic bodies report 6 more dengue deaths
New Delhi: As Dengue cases witness a dip in the Delhi-NCR region, municipal authorities on Monday reported six more deaths from the vector-borne disease in the last few months, bringing the total number of dengue deaths this year to 23 — the highest in the past 6 years. Currently, the total number of cases in the capital this year is 9,545.
South MCD officials confirmed the death of six children this week, adding to the list of deceased. The minors ranging from ages 8 months old to 13 years old expired between October and November. However, their deaths were not reported until this week due to investigation by officers into the matter, officials aware of developments said. Officials explained that in order to report the deaths as dengue related, there is a special committee in place that investigates the cases and reports them accordingly.
November reported the highest number of cases, tallying up to 6739. December has reported only 1259 (until 25th). South MCD, who is the nodal agency for dengue data collection explained that the delay in confirming the deaths is due to the thorough investigation that takes place. Approximately 11 out of the 23 deaths are pediatric deaths.
North MCD has reported 2645 cases in 2021, South MCD reported 2570 cases, East MCD reported 1129 cases and other agencies in Delhi including NDMC and Delhi Cantt reported 84 and 146 cases. There are 2950 cases that were untraceable even after investigation
The three MCDs in order to decrease the spread of the disease, highetened protocols related to sanitation, fogging and more. The Delhi government also used its '10 hafte, 10 baje, 10 minute' campaign to spread awareness regarding the disease.
As per South MCDs MHO, Dr BK Hazarika, the increase in deaths happened due to cross contamination of 2 different serotypes. He also said, "Heavy rains in September-October were the prime reason behind the cases increasing." Additionally, hospitals were only reporting a few cases regularly instead of actual numbers. Once the protocol was strengthened, all hospitals reported an increase in the number of cases.
