Dengue scare: City registers over 10,000 cases, highest in 19 yrs

Among the total number of cases reported till October 10, this month alone has seen at least 3,077 people affected by the deadly virus.

In its municipal report on the vector-borne disease released on Monday, the civic administration has maintained its dengue death toll at 30.

Unofficially, however, the casualty count stands at 41, with a 44-year-old Delhi Police official being one of the latest victims of the deadly disease.

“In the last one week, at least 3,077 cases have been reported,” a senior civic official said. The outbreak this year has become the worst in the last six years, having surpassed the 2010 figure (6,259) for the total number of cases by the end of the last month only.

Out of the 10,683 cases reported till Monday, September alone has seen 6,775 cases, also the highest in the last six years. Incidentally, no cases were reported in the first three days of this month.

Till October 3, at least 7,606 dengue cases and 25 deaths were reported. On October 8, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), which compiles the report on behalf of all civic bodies, had updated the official death toll to 30.

In 2010, besides over 6,200 total cases, only eight deaths were officially reported throughout the year.

Till October 10, 158 cases were registered in 2014 while in 2013 it stood at 3,298. Nearly 300 cases were recorded in 2012 while 2011 saw 331 cases in the same period. In 2010, over 4,000 cases were reported in the same duration.

Out of the total cases this year, north Delhi recorded the highest at 2,307, south Delhi at 2,432 while east Delhi posted the lowest with 1,413 cases. Of all civic zones in the city, Najafgarh Zone of SDMC has recorded the highest number with 808 cases.

Nearly 590 cases were reported from areas outside the jurisdiction of Delhi, while 641 cases were recorded in ‘others’ category, for which the addresses could not be ascertained, among other reasons.

174 people who were diagnosed with the disease came from Uttar <g data-gr-id="45">Pradesh,</g> while 84 came from Haryana. Also, 129 of them came from other states.

Last year, the city had reported three deaths and recorded nearly 1,000 cases.

Till October 10, the number of houses found positive for mosquito breeding stands at 2,16,870 while <g data-gr-id="48">number</g> of prosecution launched in the same period is 20,670.