NEW DELHI: After incessant rains and deluge, the national capital is bracing for another onslaught of a public health crisis driven by vector-borne diseases. In just one week, dengue cases increased by twice.
The national capital reported 105 fresh dengue cases in the past week, shooting up from 56 cases the week before, as per the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) weekly bulletin issued on Monday pushing the tally to 348 so far.
The cases in August spiked by almost 40 per cent in comparison to last year when 75 cases were reported. The corresponding period saw 72 dengue infections in 2021 and 47 in 2020. Meanwhile, the cumulative cases of dengue this year so far is the highest number of cases reported till August 5 in at least the last 10 years, officials claimed.
According to the MCD data, in comparison to the 348 dengue cases reported between January 1 and August 5 this year, the city had reported 174 cases in 2022, 55 cases in 2021, 35 in 2020, 47 in 2019 and 64 cases in 2018. Meanwhile, the corresponding period in 2017 saw 185 cases, while 119 cases were recorded in 2016, 53 in 2015, and just 22 cases were reported in 2014.
Officials said that the incessant rains and piles of solid waste accumulated after the flood water receded are driving the rise in dengue infections. They also said that given the rate of current spread, the city may witness a large-scale outbreak when the cases peak from September onwards.
“The solid waste accumulated after the deluge is making it difficult for us to carry out breeding control exercises. Most of such waste is on the wetlands of Yamuna which our teams are unable to lift as they have turned into a quagmire,” a senior health official with MCD told this newspaper.
Officials also said that a lethal strain of Dengue, DENV 2, is dominantly under circulation among the patients. Last month, Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that genome sequencing of 20 dengue-positive samples in the city showed that 19 of these had the severe Type 2 (DENV 2) strain.
