Dengue crosses 500 cases in city, up 15%

Dengue cases in Delhi crossed 500 on Wednesday, climbing 15% since last year and showing little signs of abating.

Dengue cases in Delhi crossed 500 on Wednesday, climbing 15% since last year and showing little signs of abating.

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With 34 cases during the day, the total count stood at 518. But private hospitals, such as Fortis Healthcare, Sir Ganga Ram, Moolchand and BL Kapur among others, reported nearly double the official cases.

Almost all hospitals were getting 10-15 cases daily. Six chikungunya cases had been reported in the city as well. MCD officials blamed the discrepancy in figures on most private hospitals not performing the mandatory IgM Capture Elisa test.

"A case is considered positive if the IgM serology report is positive. Many hospitals are sending reports based on the rapid kit and NS1 test, which we can't count as dengue cases," said a senior health official of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation.

But hospitals maintained they were reporting all confirmed - IgM - cases to the civic agencies.

In Gurgaon, the official count was 202, with one death on Wednesday. But private hospitals reported over 850 cases and five deaths.

While private hospitals in Noida reported over 100 cases, there were only 10 cases officially. In Ghaziabad, the health department confirmed three cases, but private hospitals were admitting around 30 patients daily.