Delhi reports 105 fresh dengue cases, tally mounts to 348

Delhi has seen an increase of 105 new cases of dengue in the last week, bringing the total to nearly 350 cases, said municipal corporation on Monday.

The city had recorded 243 cases of this vector-borne disease until July 28. The latest report from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi indicates that the total has now reached 348 cases as of August 5. In the period between January 1 and August 5, there were also 85 recorded cases of malaria.

Dengue cases in July were 121, followed by 40 in June and 23 in May. All 105 new cases in August were reported within the first five days.

Comparing data from previous years, Delhi saw 174 dengue cases during the same period in 2022, 55 in 2021, 35 in 2020, 47 in 2019, and 64 in 2018.

The fight against vector-borne diseases was somewhat hindered when Domestic Breeding Checking (DBC) workers went on an indefinite strike on July 31, under the banner of ‘Anti-Malaria Ekta Karmachari Union’.

They resumed their duties on August 5. During the inspections of households, mosquito larvae breeding was most commonly found in stagnant water in water coolers and flower pots, according to Devanand Sharma, the Union’s president.

Delhi’s Health Minister, Saurabh Bharadwaj, held a meeting with medical directors and superintendents of various hospitals to discuss protocols for managing dengue cases.

Among the measures taken by the Delhi government to address the situation are reserving five percent of hospital beds for dengue patients, providing daily updates on cases via the city health department’s portal, and ensuring dengue test reports are available within 6-8 hours for prompt treatment.(With inputs from PTI)