7,425 chikungunya cases in Delhi, over 3,000 of dengue

Over 7,400 people have been afflicted with chikungunya in the national capital even as dengue cases continued to plateau in the city with a little over 3,000 persons having contracted the virus this season.

According to a municipal report released on Monday, out of the total 7,425 chikungunya cases recorded till October 15, nearly 660 of them have been reported in areas falling under the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC).

Over 6,700 cases were reported in the city till October 8, according to South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) which tabulates the data for vector-borne disease cases in the national capital on behalf of all the civic bodies here.

Among the three corporations, 658 chikungunya cases have been reported in areas under NDMC, 588 under SDMC and 291 under East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) this season.

Several thousand cases have also been reported from areas falling outside the jurisdiction of the three municipal corporations.

At least 15 fatalities have been reported at various hospitals in the city due to complications triggered by the disease, though the civic bodies have kept the death tally at zero.

Delhi and other parts of north India are facing a spike in chikungunya cases after nearly 10 years. In 2006, over 13 lakh suspected cases of chikungunya were reported, the data said.

Dengue cases on the other hand, continued to taper, with 3,009 people being afflicted by the vector-borne disease this season till October 15. Nearly 300 fresh cases have been reported in Delhi in the last one week.

At least 876 cases have been recorded this month. Last year, out of the 15,867 dengue cases, 7,283 were reported in October, the highest among all the month. Also, September last year had seen 6,775 cases but only 1,362 cases were reported this September.

At least 21 deaths due to dengue have been reported at various hospitals, including nine at AIIMS, though the civic bodies said only four persons died of the disease this season.

Experts say a "less virulent strain" of dengue virus is in circulation this year compared to the one last year or in 2010 when 6,259 cases and eight deaths were reported by SDMC.

1,186 cases were reported from areas falling outside the jurisdiction of municipal corporations in the city. 910 cases were reported to have originated from neighbouring areas outside of Delhi.

In NDMC area, breeding of mosquitoes was found in 59,829 houses, 81,164 houses in SDMC area and 21,718 in EDMC area. The number of prosecution launched in these areas was 4,886, 8,601 and 2801 respectively.

In 1996, Delhi had recorded about 10,252 cases of dengue and 423 deaths, prompting the authorities to declare it a notifiable disease.