Delhi sees off-season rise in dengue cases

New Delhi: The national capital is facing an off-season scare as cases of dengue and chikungunya have been reported rather early this time.

Cases are already being reported from different parts of Delhi-NCR in March and April itself, months before the monsoon season which is usually the time for mosquito breeding.

The primary reason for this, according to experts, is the construction work in different parts of the city and poor upkeep of overhead and curing tanks in residential areas.

On Wednesday, Union health minister J.P. Nadda had conducted a review meeting for dengue and chikungunya situation in the city. Delhi has recorded 79 cases of chikungunya since January this year, with eight cases being recorded in the first week of April alone. Since January, 24 cases of dengue have been recorded, even though this is not the season for the spread of the disease.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are about 190 million cases of dengue worldwide with 96 million cases needing treatment.

In India too, there is 25 per cent increase each year, mainly attributed to heavy monsoons and ineffective preventive steps to check mosquito breeding.

The municipal authorities recently called an all-hands workshop on prevention and control of the vector borne diseases to finalise a comprehensive action plan for combating the menace in the coming season.

During the workshop, the officials were asked to “identify the cases of dengue and chikungunya coming to Delhi from other states.”

Experts have advised the residents to seek medical attention immediately if common symptoms of the vector borne diseases persist and to drink plenty of fluids.

They have also asked the people to make sure that open and stagnant water sources, which are the egg laying habitats of mosquitoes, are cleaned up regularly.