MADURAI: A total of 17,939 dengue cases were recorded in Tamil Nadu up to September 23 this year, said Health Secretary Dr Darez Ahamed in Madurai on Thursday.
Only nine dengue deaths were reported in this period. In comparison, there were 25,585 cases in 2025 and 35,000 cases in 2024, Ahamed said. Chennai, Coimbatore, Salem, Thiruvallur, and Chengalpet districts recorded the most number of fever cases, he added.
Speaking to reporters, he said, “In all 2,23,000 tests were carried out in the past nine months in Tamil Nadu (up to September 23). Monitoring for fever is being carried out in 5,818 private and government medical facilities.” Currently, 26,303 health workers are deployed and Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) are carrying out field monitoring activities.
Massive cleaning works have been initiated in all schools and government colleges following the recent death of a student in Chennai due to scrub typhus infection, he said.
Also, he dismissed reports that there is scarcity of medicines in Sick Newborn Care Units. He said, “No such scarcity as reported in some media. There are stocks of all kinds of medicines in such units.”