79 Chikungunya Cases in Delhi, 24 of Dengue & It’s Not yet Monsoon

The authorities had, in March, called a workshop to finalise a plan for combating the menace in the coming season.

File photo of people suffering from Dengue and Chikungunya being treated at a Delhi hospital. (Photo: IANS)

At least 79 cases of Chikungunya have been reported in the national capital in 2017, even though the season of the vector-borne diseases had ended in December.

24 cases of Dengue have also been reported in the last three months, according to a municipal report released today.

As many as 4,431 cases of Dengue were reported till the end of 2016, according to the report by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation which tabulates the data on behalf of all municipal corporations in the city.

Out of the 79 Chikungunya cases reported till 8 April, eight of these were recorded this month, while 34 were diagnosed last month. 20 cases were detected in January, and 13 in February.

Six cases of dengue were reported in January, four in February, 11 in March and three in April.

Till 14 January, only two Chikungnuya cases were reported, while no Dengue case had been reported till then.

Chikungunya and Dengue cases in the national capital had tapered off by December first week in 2016, ending the vector-borne disease season in the city that witnessed its worst Chikungunya outbreak in the last 10 years, but cases are still being registered.

The municipal authorities had, in early March, called an all-hands workshop on prevention and control of vector-borne diseases to finalise a comprehensive action plan for combating the menace in the coming season.

In the workshop, SDMC Commissioner PK Goel had asked officials to "identify the cases of Dengue and Chikungunya coming to Delhi from other states".

Lt Governor Anil Baijal on 23 March had held a review meeting with the three municipal commissioners on preparations for combating vector-borne diseases in the city in the wake of cases of vector-borne diseases still being reported.

At least 15 fatalities were reported in 2016 at various hospitals in the city due to complications triggered by Chikungunya, though the civic bodies have kept the death tally at zero.

At least 21 deaths due to Dengue were reported last year at various hospitals, including nine at AIIMS, though the official tally of the SDMC stood at 10.

17 suspected deaths in 2016 due to Malaria were also reported by the civic bodies.

In one of the worst outbreak, a total of 12,221 Chikungunya cases were reported in Delhi till 24 December 2016, out of which 9,749 were confirmed.

The season for the vector-borne diseases begins from mid-July and generally lasts till November-end.

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