NEW DELHI: At least 171 cases of dengue have been reported this season in Delhi with 52 of these being recorded in the first week of August, according to a municipal report released today.
This marks an increase of over 43 per cent as compared to the previous week. A total of 91 cases were reported in July, six cases were recorded in May while June witnessed 15, it said.
At least fifty two fresh cases have been reported since the last count and the total number of cases so far in the city is at least 171, a senior civic official said.
Last year, the city saw a staggering 15,867 dengue cases -- the worst in 20 years -- with the disease claiming 60 lives, as per municipal reports.
This year, dengue cases have been reported rather early. The vector-borne disease claimed its first victim on July 21 when a girl from Jafrabad in north-east Delhi died at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital. The MCD authorities, however, have not officially acknowledged any dengue death this year.
Last year, only six cases were reported in June, while July registered 36. Sadar Paharganj and Karol Bagh Zones under North Delhi Municipal Corporation reported a case each, while Najafgarh Zone of South Delhi Municipal Corporation has recorded seven cases.
West, Central and South Zones of South Corporation recorded four, ten and five cases respectively, said the official of SDMC, which compiles dengue report on behalf of all the civic bodies in the city.
SDMC has reported 26 cases overall while East Delhi Municipal Corporation has recorded six. Of the total number of cases, 43 were reported from areas outside the jurisdiction of the three municipal corporations.
While 25 cases were reported from Uttar Pradesh, eight of those diagnosed with the disease came from Haryana, and 57 of them came from other states.
The number of houses where breeding of mosquitoes were found are – 19,995 (NDMC), 38,960 (SDMC) and 7,140 (EDMC). The number of prosecution launched in these areas were 1195, 2298 and 254 respectively, the report said. In 1996, a severe outbreak of dengue had occurred in Delhi wherein about 10,252 cases and 423 deaths were reported.