Chikungunya seems to be on the wane in the national capital with only 342 fresh cases being recorded in the past week, taking the total number of people afflicted by the vector-borne disease to 11,193 this season.
“As many as 11,193 suspected cases have been recorded this season till November 5, out of which 8,938 have been confirmed,” according to a report released today by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation.
At least 10,851 suspected chikungunya cases were reported in the city till October 29.
As per the report, at least 3,778 dengue cases were reported in the national capital till November 5 this season.
3,650 cases were recorded till 29 October.
SDMC tabulates the data for vector-borne disease cases in the national capital on behalf of all the civic bodies.
Of the total chikungunya cases, 735 have been reported in areas falling under the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), the highest among the three corporations.
649 confirmed chikungunya cases have been reported in areas under SDMC and 361 under EDMC this season.
3,475 cases have been reported from areas falling outside the jurisdiction of the three municipal corporations.
And, 3,718 cases have been recorded from other states.
At least 15 fatalities have been reported at various hospitals in the city due to complications triggered by chikungunya, though the civic bodies have kept the death tally at zero.
Delhi and other parts of north India are facing a spike in chikungunya cases after nearly 10 years. In 2006, over 13 lakh suspected cases of chikungunya were reported.
Dengue cases too continued to taper down with just 128 fresh cases reported in Delhi in the last one week. 1,517 cases were recorded till October, while this month 128 cases have been reported till 5 November.
Last year, out of the 15,867 dengue cases, 7,283 were reported in October, the highest in the season. Also, September last year had seen 6,775 cases but only 1,362 cases were reported this September.
At least 21 deaths due to dengue have been reported at various hospitals, including nine at AIIMS, though the civic bodies said only four persons died of the disease this season.
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.
1,534 cases were reported from areas falling outside the jurisdiction of municipal corporations in the city. 1,173 cases were reported to have originated from neighbouring areas outside of Delhi.
In North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) areas, breeding of mosquitoes was found in 63,677 houses, 85,956 houses in SDMC areas and 23,276 in East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) areas. The number of prosecution launched in these areas was 5,012, 9,064 and 3,039, respectively.
In 1996, Delhi had recorded about 10,252 cases of dengue and 423 deaths, prompting the authorities to declare it a notifiable disease.
(With inputs from PTI)
