Delhi reports 101 dengue cases over the last week

Forty-eight per cent of this year’s dengue case load in Delhi was recorded over the last three weeks; September and October vulnerable months.

New Delhi: The Capital continued to register a rise in dengue cases with 101 cases being reported over the last week, according to the vector-borne disease report issued by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Monday. According to the weekly report, Delhi registered 396 dengue cases this year till September 17, 2022, while 227 more dengue cases (wherein the infection was acquired from other states) were also reported.

A municipal official conducting fogging to curb mosquito breeding in Delhi. Delhi has reported 101 dengue cases in one the last one week. (HT Photo)

Data shows the yearly dengue count (till September 17) is the highest this year compared to the last five years. Delhi had registered 211 dengue cases in the corresponding period in 2021, 172 cases in 2020, 217 cases in 2019 and 343 cases in 2018.

To be sure, officials attribute the comparatively higher number of cases to dengue being declared a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act in October last year.

According to data, the bulk of dengue cases this year (48.2%) were reported over the last three weeks---101 cases over the last week, and 51 and 39 dengue cases over the preceding two weeks. In the last few months, Delhi registered 5-15 dengue cases every week.

The vector-borne disease report also said Delhi recorded 29 malaria cases last week, taking the annual case count to 92.

To be sure, September and October are considered to be most vulnerable months for dengue cases in the city.

MCD’s five-year data on detection of mosquito breeding shows that the weekly count of mosquito larva detection usually peaks between 32nd and 38th week (September and October) of the year--the highest count is in September. The peak of mosquito-borne diseases case distribution in 2016 was around the 35th week (first week of September), in 2017 it was between 32 and 33 weeks; in 2018 it was the 35th week; in 2019 it was between 35 and 36 weeks (last two weeks of September), while it peaked between the 37th-38th week (first two weeks of October) in 2020, an analysis by the public health department held in 2021 showed.

MCD, in an official statement issued on Monday, said that the public health department is taking strict action against mosquito breeding sites and will also lodge FIRs against the owner of a company undertaking construction work in Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi since officials found heavy breeding of mosquitoes at the site. “MCD has increased anti-larval measures. We have carried out a special checking drive against breeding of mosquitoes in all 12 zones. This year the corporation has sprayed 942,126 sites with insecticides and domestic breeding checkers have conduced 24,384,711 house visits. We have issued 86,895 legal notices as well as 11,836 challans amounting to ₹26,34,502. We also requests citizens to adopt anti-larval measures,” the official statement said.