NEW DELHI: Incessant rain has led to a sudden spike in vector-borne diseases in the capital due to an increase in the number of mosquito breeding sites.
In the past one week, 233 cases of dengue, 11 of chikungunya and 56 of malaria have been reported by the municipal corporations. In the preceding week, 106 cases of dengue had been reported. The total number of dengue cases till date is 832 and malaria 507.
Out of the 233 cases of dengue, 100 were reported from Delhi while the remaining were from neighbouring states. Municipal officials, however, argue that a large chunk of these cases involves people who acquired the infection in other states and arrived in Delhi for treatment.
Among the cases reported in Delhi, 26 were from areas falling under the three municipal corporations, 16 from New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) areas, six from Delhi Cantonment, one case from the jurisdiction of railways and 51 remained untraced. Out of the 56 cases of malaria, 31 were reported from Delhi while the remaining 25 were from outside the state.
The public health department has also highlighted a sudden spike in positive mosquito breeding being discovered in houses by domestic breeding checkers. More than 17,000 such cases were found last week alone.
Senior officials said that they have been regularly monitoring the major breeding grounds and notices have been issued to the violators.
“A total of 1.8 lakh houses were found with breeding mosquitoes conditions this season. The three civic bodies issued 1.6 lakh legal notices for mosquitogenic conditions and prosecutions were done in over 22,000 cases,” an official added.
