'Dengue cases in India up by 11,832 over last year'

India in 2017 has seen 11,832 more cases of dengue compared with 2016, and the number of deaths from the vector-borne disease has been recorded at 46, eleven more than last year, officials said on Monday.

According to the Directorate of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP), till July 30, 2016, the total dengue cases in the country were 16,870 while for the same period in 2017 they numbered 28,702. Last one week alone saw 2,536 cases with 10 deaths.

Kerala reported the maximum dengue cases with 13,913 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu with 5,474 cases, Karnataka with 4,186 cases, Andhra Pradesh with 798 cases, West Bengal with 571 cases and Maharashtra with 460 cases.

"Of the 237 cases in Delhi, 118 are from the national capital while 119 cases are from adjoining states, undergoing treatment at hospitals here," said NVBDCP.

Kerala has reported 23 dengue related deaths -- highest in the country -- while Uttar Pradesh stood second with 15 deaths.

The National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme also came out with statistics on chikungunya, another vector-borne disease which saw a steep rise last year in Delhi.

Overall, till July 30, 2017, India has seen a total of 18,466 cases of chikungunya -- a whopping 45,591 cases less than last year.

In 2016, India registered a total of 64,057 cases of chikungunya, with Karnataka topping the list with a total of 15,666 cases of chikungunya, and Delhi in the second highest spot with 12,279 cases.

Till July 31, 2017, Delhi has seen a total of 220 cases of chikungunya.

Karnataka has so far seen the highest number of chikungunya cases at 10,241, followed by Maharashtra with 2,379 cases.

According to National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, India also saw an increase of both Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanese Encephalitis (JE) cases.

Till July 30, 2017, India has had 4,681 AES cases with 344 deaths compared with 3,711 cases and 409 cases in 2016. Similarly, this year, 729 cases of JE have been reported with 78 deaths, compared with 445 cases and 85 deaths in 2016.

Last week alone saw 535 cases of AES with 39 deaths and 112 cases of JE with 10 deaths.

As part of the initiative to control the rise in such cases, a training programme was organised at Kolkata on dengue, chikungunya and JE case management on July 28-29, 2017, for northeastern states. A total of 81 participants from medical colleges and districts hospitals were trained.

--IANS

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