24 more dengue cases surface

With 24 fresh cases of dengue surfacing in the city on Monday, the total number of affected people has reached 596 this year.

With 24 fresh cases of dengue surfacing in the city on Monday, the total number of affected people has reached 596 this year.

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Four people, including a one-and-a-half-year-old boy, have succumbed to the disease so far this season.

The most recent victim was Anita Murari, wife of Lady Hardinge Medical College principal, Atul Murari, who died on October 13.

Nine more cases of chikungunya were reported on Monday, taking the toll to 29.

Though officials from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), agencies responsible for keeping a record of the disease, claim that the figures are far less than what were reported last year in the corresponding period – 4,500 dengue cases – city hospitals and laboratories claim the numbers are much higher.

“On an average, nearly five of the suspected dengue cases that I examine everyday test positive. Not more than 1% of them requires hospitalisation though,” said a senior doctor at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

“A majority of doctors can read the symptoms accurately. Tests usually confirm the diagnosis. The figures are definitely higher,” he said.

“There is no reason why we will not report a case that has been sent to us. As a procedure, we cross-check the test report before registering it as a dengue case. We rely on reports sent to us as it is not practically possible to check each hospital in the city,” said Dr VK Monga, chairman, public health committee, MCD.