New Delhi: Five more deaths due to dengue have been recorded in the national capital this past week, taking the total number of fatalities from the disease this year to six so far, while the number of cases detected per week doubled in the week ending October 30, according to official data compiled by the civic bodies, which reported that the tally of dengue cases had now climbed to 1,537.
This is the highest number of fatalities due to dengue recorded in a year in the national Capital since 2017 when the total death count officially reported had stood at 10, the same as in 2016 (10). Of the total count of dengue cases in Delhi this year, 1,196 were reported in October.
531 fresh cases have been logged in the one week since October 23 — almost double the cases reported the week before.
Amid this worsening scenario, as the Delhi government frees up hospital beds for rising dengue patients, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya held a review meeting with the Delhi government over measures being taken and assured them of the Centre's full support in their efforts.
He directed the Union Health Secretary to identify states with high active cases so special teams can be dispatched there to help with management and pick up best practices for large-scale implementation.
"Primary health care centres may prescribe anti-pyretic drugs to suppress the symptoms without addressing the root cause, which may lead to eventual demise of the patient. Since testing is the most important step to identifying dengue, these deaths will not be reported as such and the incidence will continue to be under-reported," Mandaviya said, directing officials to ramp up testing.
Mandaviya also stressed the need for effective coordination between the Centre and states, observing that some hospitals were over-burdened with dengue cases with beds lying empty in others.
The Delhi government told the Union Health Ministry that it is going to undertake a special campaign to sensitise schoolchildren on larvae control. It added that it has also released Gambusia (larvae eating fish) at 163 sites, also stressing that the Delhi government was monitoring all fever cases and suspected dengue cases.
Though only 10 per cent cases are complicated and mortality seldom crosses one per cent, the Delhi government assured the Union health minister that the outbreak shall be contained with help from all stakeholders.
160 cases of malaria and 81 cases of chikungunya have also been reported till October 30 this year in Delhi but no deaths due to these have been reported yet.