India: Huge surge in dengue cases seen in Delhi

Amidst continued rainfall in the capital region, dengue cases are once again on the rise and experts say early prevention is a must.

"Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease caused by the virus. It presents in mild, severe, haemorrhagic forms. The prevention of dengue is very important, as this disease is very dangerous and even fatal, if not treated early," said Dr Y Suvarna, senior consultant, Pediatric and Neonatology, at the Rosewalk Hospital.

He added that it was important to understand the course of the disease and spoke of precautionary measures to save oneself from mosquito exposure, such as wearing clothes that cover as much skin as possible, "reducing mosquito habitats, reducing breeding by removing stored stagnant water, and using natural mosquito repellent".

Dengue cases in Delhi saw a 25 per cent rise in just one week.

Dr Suranjit Chatterjee, a senior consultant (Internal Medicine) at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, said: "Definitely the number of cases has gone up in the last five to seven days. So I am expecting that the cases would go up in the next couple of weeks. So we need to be careful about it. Every year around this time, because of waterlogging and all that, the number of big cases goes up."

"We have to keep ourselves away from the waterlogging places and should be aware that there is no stored water in the house because that is the place where the dengue mosquito breeds," Dr Chatterjee added.

At least 227 cases of the viral disease have been recorded so far, of which 75 cases are from August, while 152 cases have been reported, as of September 17. No dengue deaths have been reported so far this year.

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Moreover, 92 cases of malaria and 17 cases of chikungunya have been reported so far. According to reports from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the month of September saw 43 cases of malaria and 3 cases of chikungunya.

MCD data shows that the monthly dengue cases, since January, have been the highest ever recorded since 2017, when the civic agency started proper bookkeeping. Last year, 9,613 dengue cases were recorded in the national capital, which was the highest number in the last five years.

Further, 4,431 cases were reported in 2016 and 4,726 cases in 2017, while in 2018 and 2019, the case count sharply dropped to 2,798 and 2,036 respectively.

In 2020, the infections dropped nearly by 50 per cent, as a total of 1,072 infections were reported last year: the lowest in the 2016-2021 period. Meanwhile, last year, 23 deaths were reported in the city, which was the highest since 2016 — in terms of the death toll.

In 2017 and 2016, a total of 10 people died in the city. In the years that followed, four, two and one death was reported in 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively.

• India