Delhi records 75 new dengue cases in first week of December

75 fresh cases of dengue were reported in the Delhi/NCR region in the first week of December, taking the total count of people affected by the disease this year to 2,732.

The number of malaria and chikungunya cases reported in the week ending December 8 are one and three respectively.

The total number of people affected by dengue in November was 1,062, highest in November in last six years. The number of dengue cases in November 2017 and 2016 were 816 and 655 respectively.

Overall, cases of all three diseases have reduced as compared to 2017, when chikungunya and malaria cases were numbered at 551 and 575 respectively, by this time last year, and are 164 and 472 this year; whereas dengue cases stood at 4,681 by this time last year.

Apart from vector-borne diseases, the capital is also battling viral fevers due to the changing weather.

"The earliest recognisable symptoms of a viral infection are often fatigue and body ache. This may be followed by the onset of fever. In most cases, the fever is accompanied by a sore throat, runny nose, nasal stuffiness and red eyes. A headache is also a common symptom of viral infection. Vomiting and diarrhoea may be present in some cases," said Doctor Rajesh Bhudiraja, Internal Medicine, Asian Institute of Medical Science.

A report released by a non-profit organisation states that over one lakh cases of dengue and malaria were listed with them during a door-to-door survey, which is more than 20 times higher than the cases shown in the government reports. This has raised questions of data suppression by the Municipal Corporations of Delhi.

As per the foundation's data, information received under RTI from government institutions indicates 7,153 dengue cases and 4,205 malaria cases in Delhi in 2017-18. While the survey, held across 12 Zones of Delhi, where 28,624 households were surveyed, suggested that dengue cases were as high as 1,06,456 and cases of malaria stood at 1,26,334.