3 more deaths take dengue toll to 9, over 1K cases in one week

New Delhi: With three more dengue deaths reported in Delhi in the last week, among which was a three-year-old girl as well, the death toll from the vector-borne disease in the city has now reached 9, with over 1,100 more cases detected in just the last week, authorities here said on Monday.

The total tally of reported dengue cases has now gone above 2,700, the highest in four years. For two weeks now, the week-on-week rise in dengue cases has been doubling.

This is also the highest number of fatalities due to dengue recorded in a year in the national capital since 2017 when the cumulative death count officially reported was 10.

Over 1,170 fresh cases have been logged in the last one week, according to the report released by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC),

the nodal agency for tabulating data on vector-borne diseases in the city.

The three persons who died recently due to dengue include a 63-year-old man Rohini resident. He died at Maharaja Agarsen Hospital, officials said.

The other two victims are a three-year-old girl from Saurabh Vihar in Badarpur who died at Holy Family Hospital and a 12-year-old boy from Durga Vihar in Deoli who succumbed to the disease at Max hospital in south Delhi, they said.

Of the total count of dengue cases in Delhi this year, 1,171 have been reported this month till November 6. In October, 1,196 cases were reported.

According to the report on vector-borne diseases released on Monday, nine deaths and a total of 2,708 dengue cases have been recorded this season till November 6, which is the highest count since 2017 for the same period. A total of 1,072 cases and one death were logged in 2020, it stated.

Dengue mosquito larvae breed in clear, standing water, while those of malaria thrive even in dirty water. Cases of vector-borne diseases are usually reported between July and November, but the period may stretch till mid-December. According to the report, 166 cases of malaria and 88 cases of chikungunya have also been reported till November 6 this year in Delhi.

While the MCDs here have been blaming the extended monsoon for the rise in dengue cases this year, the opposition Aam Aadmi Party has alleged that the MCDs have purportedly wasted the money allocated to control the spread of the disease.

Significantly, according to the data compiled by the SDMC, the number of house visits by Domestic Breeding Checkers (DBCs) has fallen over the years. While in 2018 and 2019, DBCs had visited over 3.1 crore homes, this year, in the same time period, only 2.44 crore homes were checked.

Now, amid this spike, all three civic bodies have intensified their fogging and spraying drives.