NEW DELHI: India has reported 13,052 dengue cases and 19 deaths this year, with Kerala registering the maximum cases and deaths, followed by Tamil Nadu, as per government data.
While Kerala reported 3,871 dengue cases and 16 deaths from April to June this year, Tamil Nadu recorded 3,023 cases and two deaths in the same period.
This year, in the first six months, Union Health Ministry officials said the number of dengue cases has dipped; however, a few States, especially the Southern states, are witnessing a spike.
Officials also said that top bureaucrats of the Union Health and Family Welfare ministry and Housing and Urban Affairs jointly reviewed the dengue situation and preparedness in major municipal corporations from nine States, which are seeing a surge, in an Inter-ministerial meeting on July 2.
In 2024, 2.3 lakh dengue cases and 297 deaths were recorded. According to the National Centre for Vector Borne Diseases Control (NCVBDC) website, the country recorded the highest number of dengue cases in 2023: 2.8 lakh cases and 485 deaths, the highest since 2019.
The two southern states -- Kerala and TN -- are followed by Karnataka with 1,480 cases. However, no deaths were reported in the State in the past two months till June, as per provisional data shared in the parliament by Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Anupriya Patel.
The fourth southern state to see a hike is Andhra Pradesh, which reported 376 cases and one death.
The other states that reported dengue, a viral infection that spreads from mosquitoes to people, are: Maharashtra (1345), Telangana (433), Gujarat (305), Rajasthan (293), Uttar Pradesh (289), Delhi (175), Odisha (158), Uttarakhand (146), Mizoram (141), Madhya Pradesh (111), Punjab (101) and Puducherry (74). West Bengal has not reported the dengue cases to the ministry.
The Union Health Ministry administers an umbrella programme - National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme (NVBDCP) - for prevention and control of vector-borne diseases, namely malaria, Japanese encephalitis, dengue, chikungunya, kala-azar and lymphatic filariasis.
The officials said they regularly monitor the surge of vector-borne diseases in the country through regular reviews and reports submitted by the states and UTs and through field visits.
The officials added that as the risk of vector-borne diseases increases during the monsoon and post-monsoon period, the Centre starts preparatory activities well before the monsoon season.
They also said that the Centre takes a series of preventive and containment measures to prevent and control the surge in cases of vector-borne diseases in the country, especially in high-incidence urban areas.