324 malaria cases in city hospitals

NEWDELHI: With 24 new cases in a week, the number of malaria cases among Delhi residents has reached 170, says weekly data released by the municipal corporations.

The report says Delhi hospitals reported a total of 324 cases, including those who came for other states for their treatment and those who could not be traced.

Of the three mosquito-borne illnesses, malaria has taken the highest toll this year.

So far, 107 cases of dengue and 44 cases of chikungunya have been recorded in Delhi residents. The total number of cases reported from Delhi hospitals are 267 and 91, respectively.

The numbers are less than what is usually reported at this time of the year in Delhi.

All the vector-borne diseases start picking up during the monsoons as the rains provide ample *Cases till September 1

breeding grounds for the mosquitoes.

The numbers peak usually peak in October and go down in November as the temperature drops.

The numbers have remained low despite Delhi receiving heavy showers intermittently. The city is likely to receive moderate to light rain for the next four days.

But for two years now, the dengue season has extended with some cases being reported even in January.

“The cases that get reported in the winter months of December and January are usually the residual cases when the numbers are high during a season. But certainly during the two previous years, the seasons for mosquito-borne illnesses were longer because there were sporadic showers early on in the year. This year the numbers are low probably because Delhi did not receive any off-season rain,” said a municipal health official.

Despite the low numbers and a milder DENV 3 strain of dengue in circulation, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) had reported one death due to dengue nearly two weeks ago.

The case is yet to be reported by the corporation as it is still under the consideration of the death review panel.

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