Dengue cases plateau as vector-borne disease season nears end

With just 97 fresh cases recorded in Delhi over the last week, the number of dengue cases reported in the city has plateaued as the season for the vector-borne disease has virtually ended.
The total number of people affected by the disease in the national capital this year till December 9 stands at 9,169, according to a municipal report released today. It was 9,072 till December 2.
The numbers of malaria and chikungunya cases recorded this year till December 9 stood at 1,139 and 923 respectively, the report said.
Of the 9,169 dengue cases this year, 4,681 patients belonged to Delhi, while 4,488 had come to the city from other states for treatment, the report read.

The mosquito-borne tropical disease had claimed its first victim in the city this year on August 1, when a 12-year-old boy died of dengue shock syndromes at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH).
Three more deaths were reported in October by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), which tabulates the data for the entire city.

The civic body, however, is yet to acknowledge two fatalities due to dengue at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital and the death of a boy at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital due to the vector-borne disease.
According to the RML Hospital authorities, Shaurya Pratap Singh (7) had died on November 22, two days after he was admitted to the hospital, the latest dengue death to be reported from the national capital.

The number of dengue cases recorded in the city stood at 2,022 in October, while 816 cases were reported last month, the report said. Thirty-six cases have been reported this month till December 9, it said.
Cases of vector-borne diseases are usually reported between mid-July and November-end but may stretch till mid- December.
This year, however, the disease had spread much earlier.
Dengue and chikungunya are caused by the aedes aegypti mosquito, which breeds in clean water.
The female anopheles mosquito, which causes malaria, breeds in both clean and muddy water.
According to the SDMC, mosquito breeding was reported from 2,10,752 Delhi households till December 9.

The number of cases recorded in areas falling under the north, south and east Delhi municipal corporations stood at 705, 704 and 420 respectively.
At least 21 dengue deaths were reported last year from various city hospitals, including nine at the AIIMS, though the official figure of the civic bodies was 10.
Seventeen deaths, suspected to be due to malaria, were also reported by the civic bodies last year.
At least 15 fatalities were reported last year from various city hospitals due to complications triggered by chikungunya, though the civic authorities kept the death tally at zero.
One of the worst chikungunya outbreaks in the national capital was in 2016, when 12,221 cases were reported till December 24. Of these, 9,749 were confirmed.