189 dengue cases in one week, total still lowest in last 5 years

Delhi is well on course to defeat dengue this year. I appeal to everyone to keep up the prevention and awareness efforts for next few weeks.

SATYENDAR JAIN, health minister

NEW DELHI: Delhi recorded 189 cases of dengue in the week ending October 26, the highest for a single week this year, according to data from the municipal corporations of Delhi. The city so far has recorded 833 cases of the mosquito-borne disease. There have been no casualties.

The total number of cases recorded till October (833) is the lowest in the last five years.

“Latest figures show that till 26 October, there have been 833 cases of dengue in Delhi this year so far, and there has been no casualty. This is the lowest figure for Delhi in the last five years,” Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain.

“Delhi is well on course to defeat dengue this year. I appeal to everyone to keep up the prevention and awareness efforts for next few weeks,” he said.

Delhi government’s mass campaign ‘10 Hafte10 Baje10 Minute’ launched in September called on people to check for breeding and scrub out containers with clean, stagnant water to prevent breeding.

Aedes Aegypti, the mosquito that transmits diseases like dengue and chikungunya, breeds in clean water and has a life-cycle of eight to ten days. Cleaning out water containers, coolers, bird baths, and feng shui bamboo every week disrupts their life cycle and prevents breeding.

The campaign was launched after experts warned Delhi government of a likelihood of higher number of cases this year. “In 2015, there was an outbreak in Delhi. In the years after that we worked on prevention and the number of dengue cases came down. But, experts told us that dengue usually makes a comeback in 3 to 4 years, and we were worried that there might be a surge again. But our campaign received so much support and so far the number of cases are low,” said Jain.