Malaria cases surge as dengue looms over city
Twenty-three cases of malaria were recorded in city hospitals in a single week ending June 24, says weekly data released by the municipal corporations of Delhi (MCD).
Of these, 11 are residents of Delhi and the others from neighbouring states who had come to Delhi for treatment.
A total of 113 cases of malaria have been recorded since January this year by the corporations, of which 70 are from Delhi. This is higher than the number of malaria cases recorded during the same period in previous years.
According to the data, 39 Delhi residents had malaria during the same period last year, 19 in 2015, 29 in 2014.
More cases of dengue and chikungunya have been registered by the corporations before monsoon, when the disease usually starts circulating.
A total of 97 cases of dengue have been reported from Delhi hospitals till June 24, as compared to 28 in 2016, 17 in 2015, and 12 in 2014 during the same period.
In case of chikungunya, no cases had been recorded between January and June in the past three years. This year, 149 cases have been recorded by the MCD, of which 107 were Delhi residents.
Are the mosquito borne diseases on the rise? Dr Neena Valecha, director of National Institute of Malaria research says, the numbers reported in a single city in a year is not indicative.
“We cannot say that the mosquito borne diseases are going up. There can be variation in the cases reported in a city year on
We cannot say that the mosquitoborne diseases are going up. There can be variation in the cases reported in a city year on year because of various factors such as rainfall.
year because of various factors such as rainfall. The trend has to be studied across the country and over a number of years,” she said.
The corporation officials think that the intermittent rains are to blame for the high number of cases before the monsoons.
“This year there has been a lot of intermittent showers. Usually, June is a dry hot month, but this year there were rains. This is most likely the reason for the high numbers during this time of the year. Intermittent showers are worse than regular monsoons as the water does not wash away larvae and remains still to provide breeding grounds,” said an MCD health official.