Delhi govt claims credit for fewer cases of dengue

There have been only 8 deaths in Delhi residents due to swine flu, which means 0.3% of the people who tested positive for the infection died. This is much less than the national average of 5%. SATYENDAR JAIN,

Delhi health minister

NEW DELHI: There have been fewer cases of mosquito-borne illness — dengue and chikungunya — this year in the city and the health minister says the government is responsible for it.

“This time we started timely awareness campaign, more than 70 training programmes were held, we motivated school children to check for breeding in their homes and the resident welfare associations were involved to curb mosquito population, thus controlling the spread of the disease,” said Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain.

A total of 2,153 cases of dengue and 368 cases of chikungunya have been reported from Delhi, according to government data till October.

Also, this year only a single death due to dengue has been reported.

As compared to last year, the number of cases is higher, with 1,096 registered in the same period in Delhi residents last year. However, a total of 10 deaths were registered by the corporation during last year.

Doctors suggest that this is because of the DENV 3 strain of the dengue virus in circulation, which causes milder symptoms and less hospitalisations and complications.

“However, the same strain was in circulation last year, but there were more deaths. This shows that the work we have done have given good results,” said Dr SM Raheja, head of Delhi government’s dengue control cell.

The minister pointed out that of the 1,067 beds that had been reserved for fever patients, only 35% were used during the dengue and chikungunya season.

“All that the MCD does is go on strike and spread garbage all over the city. This lead to too much breeding last year and killed so many people,” said the health minister.

He pointed out that swine flu, which has caused infection in 2,198 people in the capital, has been treated well by city hospitals, bringing down the rate of mortality.

“There have been only 8 deaths in Delhi residents due to swine flu, which means 0.3% of the people who tested positive for the infection died. This is much less than the national average of 5%, and the higher percentages in states like Gujrat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,” said Jain.