National Health Profile 2013 findings: Delhi shows surge in dengue cases

Punjab registers fall, says the report released by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence

In the last four years, the capital city has witnessed a rise in the number of dengue cases, while Punjab has seen a significant dip within the same time period. This, and many more startling revelations were made by the National Health Profile 2013. The report, released by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence, states that between 2008-2012, Delhi saw a rise in the number of dengue cases by 59.22% while the number of deaths due to dengue showed a marginal decline from 0.19% in 2008 to 0.15% in 2012.

Punjab showed the maximum improvement in the number of dengue cases with an 83.03% decrease. The state reported 4,349 cases in 2008 which decreased to 738 in 2012. Compared to Delhi, the number of deaths due to dengue decreased from 21 in 2008 to 15 in 2012.

Rajib Dagupta, Associate Professor at Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) said that although the statistics in Punjab are a reason to cheer, the caveat is that dengue is subject to fluctuation across years. He said “a high degree of caution and preparation is required every year as dengue rises and falls in cycles.” While admitting that Punjab may have done certain things well that caused a significant dip in the cases, he said the urban ecology favours dengue and so one really cannot compare the two states.

T.Sundaraman, a public health expert with the Ministry of Health, however sees this trend differently. Raising doubts on the state of medical research facilities in India he said inadequate reporting of cases coupled with insufficient labs for dengue testing and deductions give an incomplete picture. “Punjab has seen a decline in dengue cases is not certain since we also need to know how many persons were tested”, he added.

India, which was declared polio free by the World Health Organisation (WHO) this year, reported 43 cases between 2010 and 2011, the report said. In 2010, Uttar Pradesh (UP) reported the highest number of polio cases (10) followed by Bihar (9), Jharkhand and West Bengal (8) and Maharashtra (5).