Hospitals report more malaria cases than dengue

It is currently too early to say whether there would be more of malaria or dengue cases. We will be able to estimate that only after the monsoon reaches the city

A senior health official

NEWDELHI: More cases of malaria than dengue have been reported from city hospitals, according to the weekly report of the mosquito-borne diseases released by the municipal corporations.

The corporations reported 78 cases of malaria from city hospitals till June 23, of which 40 are Delhi residents with the rest being people from neighbouring states who came to the city for treatment.

During the same period, 53 cases of dengue were reported.

Eleven of the 78 cases of malaria were reported during the previous week.

The city saw a dengue outbreak in 2015 that affected nearly 16,000 people and killing 60 and a chikungunya outbreak in 2016 when more than 9,500 cases were reported from city hospitals.

The number of malaria cases reported from Delhi is usually lower than that of dengue or chikungunya.

“There is a gradual increase in the number of people affected with malaria in Delhi and the main reason I think is that the mosquitoes are getting resistant to the insecticides leading to higher population of Anopheles that transmit the disease,” said Dr Charoo Hans, former head of microbiology at Dr Ram Manohar Lohia hospital.

Officials, however, say it is too early to say whether there would be a higher number of malaria cases this year.

“It is currently too early to say whether there would be more of malaria or dengue cases. We will be able to estimate that only after the monsoon reaches the city,” said a senior health official from the municipal corporation.

An intersectoral team, including senior officials from the Delhi government and the civic bodies, have been working since March to prevent breeding and create awareness.

“Although we have started awareness campaigns and the domestic breeding checkers have been keeping an eye for excessive mosquito breeding, the monsoon will be a challenge as the stagnant rainwater provides a very good breeding ground for mosquitoes,” the official said.

The mosquito-borne diseases are usually reported between July and November, after Delhi receives monsoon showers and before the temperature dips. But, cases were being reported even in January — during last year and this year.

“The reason could be that the winters were not cold enough. The temperatures need to drop below 16 degrees for a continuous period of 10 to 12 days for the mosquitoes and the virus causing the diseases to die,” said another official from the corporations health department.