Vector-borne diseases on the increase in city

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 17

With cases of vector-borne diseases surfacing early this year in the national Capital, the latest weekly municipal report has put the number of people diagnosed with malaria at 210 with around 26 new cases in the last week in the city.

The cumulative figures for dengue and chikungunya this year till July 15 have stood at 150 and 183, respectively, as per the latest data. Seventeen fresh cases of dengue and 12 of chikungunya were recorded in the week.

The number of cases is expected to rise as the season for the vector-borne diseases begins from mid-July and generally lasts till November-end.

Cases of all the three vector-borne diseases have been reported much earlier this time, which doctors have attributed to early onset of monsoon. Of the 210 malaria cases, 108 people diagnosed positive were residents of Delhi while the rest belonged to other states. At least 49 cases have been recorded this month.

Of the 183 chikungunya cases, 122 of the affected people were residents of Delhi while the rest of the cases were traced to other states, it said.

Twenty-two cases of dengue have been reported this month, while 15 were recorded in June.

Both the three municipal corporations and the city government have stepped up awareness drive.

While the civic bodies are said to be distributing pamphlets which state dos and don'ts on prevention of vector-borne diseases and the city government had on June 23 directed all state-run and private hospitals and nursing homes to raise their bed capacity by up to 20 per cent for the next six months to deal with any possible outbreak.

The government has also banned over-the-counter sale of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin and brufen.

Dengue and chikungunya are caused by bite of aedes agypti mosquito, which breeds in clear water, while anopheles mosquito, which causes malaria, can breed in both fresh and muddy water.

Breeding of mosquitoes has been reported at 58,753 households in the city, according to the report.