43 dengue ‘hot spots’ identified in Delhi: MCD

According to MCD’s weekly vector-borne disease report, Delhi has so far reported 2,115 cases, of which 2,010 infections were in MCD’s jurisdiction

At least 485 new cases of dengue were reported in Delhi in the past week, taking the overall count of the mosquito-borne vector disease in the city to 2,115, officials said on Wednesday, highlighting that the uptick in number of infections is still rising.

(Representative image) Of 1,071 untraced cases, 878 cases had incomplete or wrong addresses given, while in another 193 cases, the address was traced, but it was found to be incorrect (PTI)

Meanwhile, there are an additional 1,071 “untraced” cases in the city, according to a weekly report by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). There are another 162 cases in the city where the patient was infected while travelling outside the state.

The public health department of MCD has so far identified 43 hotspots in the city, where clusters of dengue cases have been observed. However, a large chunk of “untraced cases” where the address of the dengue patients is incomplete or incorrect continues to pose a challenge to the dengue fight, officials from the department said.

According to MCD’s weekly vector-borne disease report, Delhi has so far reported 2,115 cases, of which 2,010 infections were in areas within MCD’s jurisdiction, 26 cases were in NDMC areas, 66 in Delhi Cantonment, and 13 from Railways.

Of the 1,071 untraced cases, 878 cases had incomplete or wrong addresses given, while in another 193 cases, the address was traced, but it was found to be incorrect. These figures are not added to Delhi’s total infections tally in MCD’s report.

A municipal official said that the problem of “untraced cases” acts as a hurdle against the fight against the mosquito-borne disease, defeating the purpose of the notification orders issued by the Delhi government on 14 October 2021, which declared the disease as “notifiable diseases”, in the city under the Epidemic Diseases Act. The notification makes it mandatory for healthcare institutions to report the dengue to the health department to improve the surveillance in the city.

A public health department official said that a cluster of cases reported means that the area can be classified as a “hot spot” where enhanced surveillance and anti-mosquito drives are carried out. MCD has so far identified 43 hotspots in the city.

A senior MCD official said that several steps have been taken at these “hot spots” to prevent further spread including intensification of domestic breeding checking work, intensification of anti-larval work, spray and fogging and intensification of IEC activities.

Meanwhile, an internal analysis of the containers where mosquito breeding is found shows that small domestic containers were dominant contributors over the last two months – 12% in bird pots, 13% in flower pots, 14% in small water storage containers.

“While the notification has improved the reporting of cases with the number of hospitals reporting dengue cases increasing manifold but the incomplete/wrong data regarding defeats the purpose behind the move. In many cases the addresses are untraceable. For instance, if the data says Bhola ram from Burari but does not provide any contact details or specific address, our field workers can’t carry our concentrated anti-mosquito activities in the affected area,” official explained.

The civic official say that multiple reminders have been sent to hospitals, department of health services. “Hospitals have been requested to notify the confirmed cases within 24 hours along with accurate information such as patient details, residential address, contact number,” another official added.