New Delhi, Dec. 5: Chikungunya and dengue cases in the national capital tapered off as the vector-borne disease season ended in the city that witnessed the worst outbreak of chikungunya in the last 10 years.
153 fresh cases of chikungunya were recorded in the past week, taking the total number of people afflicted by the vector-borne disease to over 12,068 this year. 197 cases were reported in the week before that, according to a report release by the SDMC today.
According to the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, which updated its dengue tally last week to six, 105 fresh cases of dengue were reported in the last week.
4,305 cases have been recorded till December 3, with the last month seeing 655 cases. Last year, 841 cases of dengue were reported in November.
“As many as 12,608 suspected cases have been recorded this season till December 3 out of which 9,633 have been confirmed,” according to the report.
At least 11,915 suspected chikungunya cases were reported in the city till November 26.
SDMC tabulates the data for vector-borne disease cases in the national capital on behalf of all the civic bodies.
Of the total chikungunya cases, 761 have been reported in areas falling under the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), the highest among the three corporations.
665 confirmed chikungunya cases have been reported in areas under SDMC and 390 under EDMC this season.
3,808 cases have been reported from areas falling outside the jurisdiction of the three municipal corporations. And, 4,009 cases have been recorded from other states.
At least 15 fatalities have been reported at various hospitals in the city due to complications triggered by chikungunya, though the civic bodies have kept the death tally at zero.
Delhi and other parts of north India faced a spike in chikungunya cases after nearly 10 years. In 2006, over 13 lakh suspected cases of chikungunya were reported.
Last year, out of the 15,867 dengue cases, 7,283 were reported in October, the highest in the season. Also, September last year had seen 6,775 cases but only 1,362 cases were reported this September.
At least 21 deaths due to dengue have been reported at various hospitals, including nine at AIIMS.
In 1996, Delhi had recorded about 10,252 cases of dengue and 423 deaths, prompting the authorities to declare it a notifiable disease.
