Eight more dengue deaths in Delhi, official toll 25

The toll due to dengue in the national capital has risen to 25 after eight more people succumbed to the vector-borne disease, officials said on Thursday.

The latest victims include five females, including a seven-month-old girl, and three males.

"The male victims are of 64 years, 21 and 60 years of age, while the female victims are 7 months old, a 7-year-old girl, and women of age 32, 40 and 70," said a statement from the municipal authorities.

Till now, the national capital and its adjoining areas have recorded a total of 5,968 dengue cases. The unofficial number of deaths, confirmed by hospitals, has crossed 80.

Following a spurt in the number of cases in the national capital, health stakeholders, including top officials of the Delhi health department, researchers and laboratories, on Wednesday met to discuss new initiatives to control the menace.

During the meeting, the stakeholders were reported to have discussed specific areas of the city from where the maximum number of dengue cases have been reported. However, specific details were not made public.

The meeting, held at the Delhi secretariat, was headed by the health secretary.

Nearly 2,200 fresh cases of dengue have been reported in the past one week even as hospitals in the city continue to be flooded with patients hit by the mosquito-borne disease.

Officials said the number of affected people this year is set to overtake the total figure for 2010, when 6,259 cases were reported.