Dengue killed 250 people, infected 1.5 lakh in India this year, says data

The data was compiled by the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme till December 24.

India reported 250 deaths due to the mosquito-borne disease dengue and 1,57,220 cases during 2017. Last year, 1.2 lakh cases and 245 deaths were reported.

The data was compiled by the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) till December 24 under the Union health ministry.

The maximum number of cases were reported from Tamil Nadu, where the disease claimed 63 lives out of the total 23,035 cases reported.

Tamil Nadu was followed by Maharashtra, where 41 people died from dengue out of the total 7,442 cases reported.

However, the number of cases was higher in Kerela (19,912), Karnataka (17,018), Punjab (15,318) and West Bengal (10,697) than Maharashtra.

The government has initiated a study across five geographical regions in India to measure the seroprevalence -- the prevalence of a disease in a particular population depending on the presence of antigen in the blood samples.

This will help establish the efficacy of the only dengue vaccine in Indian context as the vaccine works better when the anti-body rate in the population is high.

In Delhi, the data showed that the disease claimed nine lives, while 9,232 dengue cases were reported.

Union health minister JP Nadda in a written reply to the Lok Sabha recently said that the study was being coordinated by the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai.

The data also showed that 62,268 cases of chikungunya were reported in the country as compared to 64,057 last year. The highest number of cases was reported from Karnataka (31,644).

(With agency inputs)