One more death, dengue cases inch towards alarming 3,000-mark

One more death due to dengue was reported today in the capital by the civic bodies, as number of cases climbed close to an alarming 3,000.
2,916 cases have been reported till today with October itself registering nearly 800 cases, a report released by the MCD said.
The latest case of dengue death is of 35-year-old Gautam Priyanka from Kishan Garh area who succumbed on September 21.
With this, the official death toll now stands at four, while six persons have been put under the suspected dengue death category by the municipal bodies.
The capital had witnessed large number of dengue cases in the 2010 with over 6000 cases being reported. In 2008, over 1,300 cases were registered, 1,153 in 2009, over 1,100 cases in 2011 and 2,093 last year.

While figures for various corporations are North (1400), South (762) and East (617), 72 cases were reported from regions in Delhi outside the jurisdiction of MCD and 30 cases in other category.

A total of 35 cases have been reported from other states.
While cases in Rohini Zone mounted to 659, still the highest, Shah (North) and Shah (South) Zones both saw over 300 cases. Narela (251), Najafgarh (236), Karol Bagh (200) and Civil Lines (255) too posted over 200 figures, among other places.
MCD officials said they were anticipating the 3,000-mark only by October end.
September saw a total of 1,962 cases, the highest for a month so far this year.

Meanwhile, cases of malaria also saw an increase with 61 cases reported last month compared to 28 in August. So, far no cases have been reported for this month.
All corporations have intensified efforts to check the disease before the ensuing assembly polls with parties already making it a political issue and indulging in blame game.
But MCD top officials claimed it would not impact the campaign.
"Dengue cases go up in a cycle every three year and last time it was in 2010 during the CWG. I do not think dengue will become a political issue during the coming state assembly elections," Mayor Sarita Chaudhary of BJP-led South Delhi Municipal Corporation told PTI.

"We are doing every thing possible to contain the spread of the disease and fumigation and anti-larval routines are being carried out along with regular checking in households," she added.
South Delhi Municipal Commissioner Manish Gupta said, "We also have been doing 'dengue homework programme' in our schools where kids are asked to collect information about the disease, and in the process they sensitise not just themselves but also their parents".
Mosquito breeding has been found in 1,46,438 households against 85,348 last year for the same period. Number of prosecution launched so far is 17,699 compared to 4,779 last year for the same period.