174 Dengue Cases In Delhi So Far This Year

Over 170 dengue cases have been recorded in the national capital so far this year, according to a civic body report released on Monday. According to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) report, the city recorded 23 dengue cases in January, 16 in February, 22 in March, 20 in April, 30 in May and 32 in June.

Till August 6, the capital had logged 174 dengue cases, the report said. On July 30, the number of cases stood at 169. Five fresh cases were reported in a week, it said. No death has been reported so far this year due to the disease, it added.

In 2017, Delhi had reported 251 cases during the January 1-August 6 period, according to the report. Last year, Delhi recorded 55 dengue cases between January 1 and July 30. During the same period, the number of cases stood at 35 in 2020, 47 in 2019 and 64 in 2018.

Delhi has also recorded 35 cases of malaria and nine cases of chikungunya this year, the report said. Cases of vector-borne diseases are usually reported between July and November, sometimes stretching till mid-December.

Civic officials said dengue cases were being recorded earlier this year due to weather conditions that are congenial for mosquito breeding. Last year, 9,613 dengue cases were recorded in the national capital, the highest since 2015, along with 23 deaths -- the maximum since 2016.

Ten deaths each were reported due to dengue in 2016 and 2017, four in 2018 and two in 2019. According to official data, 4,431 dengue cases were recorded in Delhi in 2016, 4,726 in 2017, 2,798 in 2018, 2,036 in 2019, and 1,072 in 2020.

In 2015, the city witnessed a massive outbreak of dengue with the number of cases crossing 10,600 in October. It was Delhi's worst dengue outbreak since 1996.

(With PTI inputs)