New Delhi: The city today reported its second dengue victim in the death of a 37-year-old woman even as the total number of cases from the vector-borne disease shot to an alarming 277, with over 220 of them being reported in the first two weeks of August only.
The victim has been identified as Mamta Rani from Narela area in north Delhi.
"She was admitted to Sri Balaji Action Hospital on August 1 and died on August 4. Her death was notified on August 7," said a senior official of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), which compiles the report on behalf of all civic bodies in the city.
Out of the total number of cases in the capital reported till August 14, 158 of them occurred in the last week.
With 277, the total number of cases marked a rise of nearly 133 per cent as till August 8, 119 cases were reported, according to a municipal report on the vector-borne diseases released today.
Three-year-old boy, Shivam, from Inderpuri area in north Delhi who died last month, was reported by the SDMC as the first official dengue victim.
On August 5, a 10-year-old Manipur native girl from south Delhi had died at the AIIMS 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 277, it is also the highest number of cases in the last five years. The number of cases from January 1 to August 14 for the other four years are ? 26 (2014), 54 (2013), 10 (2012), 46 (2011). For the same period in 2010, nearly 300 cases were reported.
In Delhi, out of the total cases, north Delhi recorded the highest at 118, south Delhi at 82 while east Delhi posted the lowest with 19 cases.
43 cases were reported from areas outside the jurisdiction of the municipal corporations in the city while five cases were reported from Uttar Pradesh and one from Haryana.
Nine cases were reported from other states.
Last year, the city had reported three deaths and recorded nearly 1,000 cases.
Inderpuri falls in the Karol Bagh Zone of the North Delhi
Municipal Corporation (NDMC), and the zone has reported 13 cases so far, while Narela Zone, at 71, has recorded the maximum number of cases in the city.
The SDMC official said that besides our regular drives, we have also imposed challans on various institutions and bodies for violation of dengue protection norms.
A senior NDMC official, when contacted, said, "Yes, the situation is a concern now, but the sudden rise in the number of cases is due to conducive environment for mosquito-breeding during the monsoon season."
"We will be further intensifying our drive and if need be increase the frequency of fogging and domestic-breeding checking," he said.
All three corporations North, South and East have their own anti-dengue drive to create awareness and penalize people and institutions if water stagnation is found in coolers and other areas. Besides, a dengue month is also marked by the civic bodies to intensify the awareness drive.
Nonetheless, the rise of 133 per cent in the number of cases has put the corporations on their toes.
In 2013, over 5,500 cases were reported, while six people had died due to the disease.
The capital had witnessed a large number of dengue cases in 2010 with over 6,000 cases reported in the city.
In 2008, over 1,300 cases were registered; 1,153 in 2009; over 1,100 cases in 2011; and 2,093 in 2012.
From January 1 till August 14, as many as 1,28,679 houses have been fumigated, 1,13,784 households have been found positive for breeding, and 81,086 legal notices have been issued for mosquitogenic conditions. Nearly, 9,599 prosecutions have been launched in the same period.
