245 cases of malaria reported, surpass dengue, chikungunya

This year malaria has surpassed dengue and chikungunya as the mosquito-borne disease that has affected the most number of people in Delhi.

Twenty cases of malaria were reported from hospitals across the city during the week ending July 22, taking the total number of malaria cases to 245, according to the weekly report released by the Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCD).

Of these, 128 patients were from Delhi and the rest had come for treatment to the city from the neighbouring states.

No deaths due to malaria have been reported.

Last year, 454 cases of malaria and 17 deaths were reported by the corporations.

Malaria is caused by plasmodium parasite, which is transmitted by infected mosquitoes. It causes fever, chills, shivering, sweating, headache and nausea.

The corporations have reported 195 cases of chikungunya, of these 127 patients are residents of Delhi. Last year, when Delhi had a chikungunya outbreak affecting 7,760 people, the first case was recorded in July, after which the number of cases jumped to 431 in August.

No deaths related to chikungunya were reported by the corporations, although hospitals across the city attributed at least 20 deaths to the viral disease.

According to the weekly report, 30 cases of dengue were also recorded during the same period, taking the total number of dengue cases reported from city hospitals to 180. Of these, 98 patients are residents of Delhi. No deaths have been recorded.

However, the actual number of cases of the vector-borne diseases is likely to be much higher. Two weeks ago, Hindustan Times found the number of cases reported from a large government hospital — Safdarjung – was more than the number of cases reported by the corporation.

“The problem is that over half the hospitals do not report dengue or chikunguya cases or report them very late,” said an MCD health official.

THE CORPORATIONS HAVE RECORDED 195 CASES OF CHIKUNGUNYA AND 180 CASES OF DENGUE