Dengue cases cross 1,150, one succumbs to chikungunya

Tribune News Service 

New Delhi, September 12

Dengue has made an upsurge in the national Capital with the municipal report released today stating that around 387 more people have been diagnosed positive over the last week, pushing the cumulative figure of dengue infections to 1,158 this year. 

Meanwhile, a 65-year-old person of Ghaziabad has succumbed to chikungunya this morning at Sir Gangaram Hospital here.

Among the total cases of dengue recorded by the municipal bodies, 804 are cases belonging to Delhi while 354 are from other states. There have been at least nine deaths due to dengue reported this season in the national Capital even as the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) which compiles the report on vector-borne diseases has recorded the death toll as four due to the infection. 

Among the total cases reported this season, August alone accounts for 652 while infections this month has been gradually shooting up giving rise to fear and concerns among residents and healthcare authorities. 

This year, dengue cases have been reported rather early unlike last year when Delhi had witnessed a worrying 15,867 cases, which was the worst in 20 years. 

The last dengue fatality reported was of Iram Khan (25), a native of Meerut, who lived in Jamia Nagar in south Delhi, and succumbed to dengue on August 31 at Apollo Hospital

In 1996, a severe outbreak of dengue was declared when about 10,252 cases and 423 deaths were reported due to the vector-borne infection.