A senior doctor in Delhi's Ganga Ram Hospital said that the dengue outbreak in the city is far worse compared to the last two or three years. Delhi recorded 1,171 dengue cases between November 1-6, 2021.
According to PTI, a total of 1,196 cases were recorded throughout October while only 217 cases were registered in September. In January, Delhi did not report any case. There were two reported cases in February, five in March, 10 in April, 12 in May, seven in June, 16 in July, and seven in August.
The doctor also mentioned that the mortality rate was also on the rise. The 2,708 registered cases so far are the most since 2018. The recorded cases between January 1 and October 30 were 612 in 2020, 1,069 in 2019, and 1,595 in 2018.
Delhi reported three deaths due to Dengue on Monday, taking the total reported deaths to nine- the most in a season since 2017, when ten people died.
Dr. Pooja Khosla, a senior consultant, speaking to NDTV said, "Around Diwali (and as winter sets in), when we expected to see cases decrease, there was an increase. This might be because, as Covid restrictions are lifted and we return to normal, people are taking it too easy and not following post-monsoon precautions".
She said that people were not careful, highlighting the stagnant water, which is a breeding ground for dengue spreading mosquitoes, at re-opened building sites and overcrowded markets. She also mentioned that the rise in cases in Delhi may be due to the rise in neighboring Uttar Pradesh and nearby regions.
Dozens died from dengue and viral fever in Uttar Pradesh after a spike in cases from mid-August.
She further said that Ganga Ram Hospital was reporting between 80-100 walk-in dengue cases every day and about half of them were admitted. About 20 percent of the walk-in cases are serious and about 10 percent need ICU, she added.
She said, "We are mainly getting regular dengue – i.e., with fever. More complicated cases – dengue hemorrhagic fever – patients with bleeding complications… they have low platelet, need ventilators or are hemodynamically unstable…", while warning that if timely action was not taken, the number of cases will keep increasing till winter sets in.
She assured that medical professionals in the capital were ready to face the threat after learning harsh lessons from Covid-19. Notably, Delhi faced a major Dengue outbreak in 2015 when more than 10,600 cases were reported in October, making it the worst since 1996.
