Over 10,000 dengue cases in Delhi highest in 19 years

New Delhi: With 10,683 dengue cases reported till October 10, Delhi has recorded the highest number of patients of the viral disease in 19 years, health authorities said on Monday.

The last time dengue cases crossed the 10,000 mark was in 1996, when the capital city reported 10,252 patients, they added.

The number of dengue cases reported from Delhi's adjacent areas - suburban Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, and Gurgaon and Faridabad in Haryana - stood at 646.

According to the figures released by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, as many as 3,077 new cases were detected in the last one week.

Areas under the South Delhi Municipal Corporation witnessed the highest 2,432 cases while in the East Delhi Municipal Corporation areas witnessed the lowest 1,413 cases. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation recorded 2,307 cases in the last one week.

According to civic authorities, the official toll due to dengue in the national capital was 30, though the unofficial figure rose up to over 85.

Among the latest dengue victims confirmed by hospital authorities were a teenager and a 41-year-old man, who succumbed to the vector-borne disease on Sunday.

"The number of fever cases arriving at our hospital is more. The subject needs to be closely observed. In the middle of August, the number of cases went down but it is again rising," A.K. Gadhpahilay, medical superintendent of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, told IANS.

"As winter arrives, dengue cases will see a decline," he said.

A senior emergency medicine expert at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences said: "Dengue seems uncontrollable now. The number of cases witnessed this year clearly indicates that municipal authorities can't just depend on fumigation and light initiatives to prevent dengue. This has become a regular problem in every monsoon season."