NEW DELHI: Nearly 580 cases of dengue were reported in Delhi in the last one week, taking the number of people afflicted by the vector-borne disease to over 2,700 this season.
The dengue outbreak seems to have plateaued out. Unlike September last year which had seen 6,775 cases, only 1,362 cases were reported this September.
As per a municipal report released today, 2,711 dengue cases were recorded till October 8.
At least 21 deaths due to dengue were reported at various hospitals, including nine at AIIMS, though the civic bodies said only four persons died of the disease.
South Delhi Municipal Corporation compiles the report on vector-borne diseases on behalf of all civic bodies in the city.
The first victim was a 17-year-old girl from Jafrabad in northeast Delhi. She died on July 21.
SDMC has recorded 391 cases, the maximum among all regions in the city. North Delhi Municipal Corporation and East Delhi Municipal Corporation registered 218 and 148 cases respectively, according to the report.
Central Zone of SDMC recorded 154 cases, the highest among its four zones. Najafgarh, West and and South Zones reported 101, 78 and 58 cases respectively.
Among the areas under North Delhi Municipal Corporation, Sadar Paharganj recorded 25 cases, Rohini (55) and Narela (26), Karol Bagh (35) and City (44) and Civil Lines (61).
Experts say a "less virulent strain" of dengue virus is in circulation this year compared to the one last year or in 2010 when 6,259 cases and eight deaths were reported by SDMC.
This year, cases have been reported early. 91 cases were reported in July, six in May and 15 in June.
1,052 cases were reported from areas falling outside the jurisdiction of municipal corporations in the city.
805 cases were reported to have originated from neighbouring areas outside of Delhi.
In NDMC area, breeding of mosquitoes was found in 57,451 houses, 78,220 houses in SDMC area and 20,744 in EDMC area.
The number of prosecution launched in these areas was 4,724, 8,176 and 2,660 respectively.
AIIMS in a report released on September 15 had said that among the dengue and chikungunya patients visiting it, 70 per cent belonged to Uttar Pradesh, 10 per cent to Bihar and the rest to Delhi.
In 2015, the city saw a staggering 15,867 dengue cases, the worst in the last 20 years, with the disease claiming 60 lives, as per municipal reports.
In 1996, Delhi had recorded about 10,252 cases of dengue and 423 deaths, prompting the authorities to declare it a notifiable disease.