Poll | Dengue crisis result of Delhi cutting down health spending?

The Delhi-NCR area is witnessing the worst outbreak of dengue since 2010, is the mess in handling dengue crisis a result of Delhi cutting down its health expenditure?

The Delhi-NCR area is witnessing the worst outbreak of dengue since 2010, with more than 1,800 cases and five deaths reported till September 12.

An analysis of data from various hospitals also showed that dengue figures in the Capital may have been grossly under-reported. Public health professionals say the worst is yet to come.

The emergency ward at the Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi on Monday. (Saumya Khandelwal/HT)

“The disease normally peaks in the second and third week of October, so the numbers are going to go further up,” said Ekta Gupta, additional professor at the department of virology, Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences.

As many as 1,872 cases and five deaths have been officially reported in the national capital region, threatening to touch the high numbers of 2010 when mismanagement by civic authorities during the Commonwealth Games pushed the death toll to eight and 6,259 infections were reported.