Dengue outbreak ahead of CWG worries Delhi

The national capital on Wednesday recorded the highest single-day incidence of dengue this season with 54 more patients testing positive for the disease, taking the total number of cases to 550.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi said it has deployed additional staff to tackle the situation in worst-hit central and south Delhi from where 209 cases have been reported so far.

It is also maintaining round-the-clock surveillance near all the Commonwealth Games venues, Municipal Commissioner K S Mehra said.

According to statistics released by MCD, the number of cases till this time in 2009 was only three. The figure was 63 and 15 in the same periods in 2008 and 2007 respectively.

The civic body has said there were one confirmed and three suspected dengue deaths this season though private hospitals are giving a much higher figure.

According to the MCD, there were 54 new cases since Tuesday. Among the total 550 cases so far, 446 have been reported from MCD areas, 73 from NDMC areas and the rest were from other parts of the city and outstation cases.

Authorities are more worried about the spread of dengue as the city will host the games in October, a month which generally sees high prevalence of the disease.

The issue of dengue was debated at a meeting of the MCD in which councillors cutting across party lines expressed concern over the spread of the disease.

Leader of opposition J K Sharma said the situation is 'very bad' in south and central zones as the number of patients have crossed 100 and 90 respectively.

"If the figures given by private hospitals are taken into account, every day 50 to 100 suspected dengue patients from Jamia Nagar, Batla House and other nearby areas are being admitted there," he said.

Mehra said dengue outbreak follows a cyclic pattern and the cases show an increase every four years. "The last time the disease reached a peak in the city was in 2006. Along with this, games construction work, intermittent rains and humid weather have made it conducive for mosquito breeding."

According to the MCD, in the previous years, the number of dengue cases and deaths were 1,153 and 3 (2009), 1,312 and 2 (2008), 548 and 1 (2007) and 3,366 and 36 (2006).