Over 1,500 fresh cases of chikungunya in one week

NEW DELHI: The Capital recorded over 1,500 chikungunya cases in the week ending September 17, according to data released by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD),

NEW DELHI: The Capital recorded over 1,500 chikungunya cases in the week ending September 17, according to data released by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), taking the total number of cases of the mosquito-borne infection to 2,625.

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The number of chikungunya cases reported from across city hospitals went up from 1057 to 2625, an increase of 1,568 cases in a week.

This week, the number of chikungunya cases has surpassed that of dengue, which is endemic in Delhi.

A total of 1,378 cases of dengue have been reported till September 17, of which 220 were reported this week. A total of 3,791 cases of dengue were reported in the same period last year, when Delhi witnessed its worst ever dengue outbreak that affected nearly 16,000 and killed 60.

In the report released on Monday, the corporations have not reported any deaths due to chikungunya.

A death review committee report release by the Delhi government on Saturday had ruled that no one died of chikungunya in the city. The committee had reviewed 13 deaths, of which they held their verdict on three for the want of more documents.

“When several conditions have been listed as the causes of death, some of which are chronic conditions that the patients have been living with for years, how can the hospitals term it as chikungunya death,” an official from the Delhi health department said, on condition of anonymity.

The large number of cases, however, prompted the government to categorise chikungunya as a dangerous/ notifiable disease. “When a case is reported, it is important to conduct fogging in the house so that the mosquito does not spread the disease to others. This is the reason we have made chikungunya a notifiable disease,” said health minister Satyendar Jain.

The MCDs report on Monday also maintained only four people died of dengue, where as data from AIIMS alone shows that nine people have died of the disease in September. HT has independently confirmed 20 deaths due to the disease from city hospitals.