Oct ’19 dengue count half of last October, CM thanks people

NEW DELHI: Delhi recorded 111 cases of dengue in a single week ending October 12, taking the total to 467, according to weekly data released by the municipal corporations of Delhi (MCD).

This is just over half of the 830 cases recorded the previous year during the same period. A total of 2,798 cases of dengue had been recorded in 2018.

Anticipating an increase in the number of cases this year, the Delhi government had launched a 10-week long campaign, urging people to check their homes for mosquito breeding.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday thanked the Delhi residents for their participation, which, he said, resulted in a decline in numbers.

The government had started the ‘10 Hafte, 10 Baje, 10 Minute’ campaign in the first week of September under which people were urged to check for mosquito breeding every Sunday for 10 weeks at 10’o clock for 10 minutes to prevent an outbreak.

The aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits dengue, takes 8-10 days and can only breed in clean water. Emptying vessels with water disrupts the mosquitoes’ life cycle and prevents population explosion post monsoons.

The campaign has completed seven weeks and will conclude after three weeks in mid-november. Kejriwal requested Delhi residents to remain vigilant till the dengue season was over.

Being cyclic in nature, experts had warned the government that Delhi might see a higher number of dengue cases this year. A decline had been recorded since an outbreak in 2015 that affected nearly 16,000 and killed 60.

“In the years after the 2015 outbreak, we worked on prevention and the number of dengue cases came down by 80%. Experts told us dengue usually makes a comeback in 3 to 4 years; we were worried there might be a surge again. But our campaign received support. So far, the number of cases is lower than last year,” health minister Satyendar Jain said.

There are four strains of dengue virus. The number goes up when a new strain is in circulation. In 2015, DENV 2 strain was predominant followed by DENV 3, which lasted three years. “This year, October has been dry. so the number is not likely to increase. The strain too does not seem to be a virulent one,” an official said.