NEW DELHI: With nearly 120 cases, dengue scare seems to have returned to Delhi with over half of them being recorded in August only even as the city's municipal corporations today reported the first victim of the vector- borne disease in the death of a three-year-old boy.
The total number of cases in the capital reported till August 8 has jumped alarmingly to 119, a rise of nearly 125 per cent over the last week.
The total cases till July 31 was 53, and August's first week only saw 66 cases, according to a municipal report on vector-borne diseases released today.
The deceased has been identified as a three-year-old boy, Shivam, from Inderpuri area in north Delhi who died last month, according to the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) which compiles the report on behalf of all civic bodies in the city.
"The boy who belonged to Delhi was admitted in Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital on July 2 and died on July 10. The death notification was given on July 16. Since ELISA test was found positive in this case, this is the first official death, according to municipal norms," a senior SDMC official said.
On August 5, a 10-year-old Manipur native girl from south Delhi had died after a week of high fever, becoming the first suspected death victim of the vector-borne disease, though the municipal corporations did not consider the case, as the ELISA test was not conducted on her.
As per municipal norm, only ELISA test confirmed cases are taken in the official death count from the disease.
At 119, it is also the highest number of cases in the last five years.
The number of cases from January 1 to August 8 for the last four years are – 23 (2014), 41 (2013), 10 (2012), 38 (2011). For the same period in 2010, over 157 cases were reported.
In Delhi, out of the total cases, north Delhi and south Delhi recorded 42 each while 13 cases were reported in east Delhi.
Fifteen cases were reported from areas outside the jurisdiction of the municipal corporations in the city while a case each was reported from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, and five from other states.
Last year, the city had reported three deaths and recorded nearly 1,000 cases.