Cases of dengue, viral fever rise in Delhi

New Delhi [India], September 8 (ANI): Even as the national capital seems to have brought under its control the COVID-19 situation, cases of dengue and viral fever have seen a rise in the national capital.
As per the data released by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, 125 cases of dengue have been reported in 2021.
However, no causality has been reported so far in the capital from the mosquito-borne disease.
"Out of the 72 cases reported in the month of August, 39 cases were found in South Delhi, while 21 cases were reported in North Delhi and 12 cases in East Delhi," the data revealed. Other than the 72 cases, seven cases of dengue have also been reported in the NDMC area, while two were found in Delhi Cantt.
The number of dengue cases recorded this year is the highest since 2018.
Meanwhile, 27 cases of the other mosquito-borne disease, malaria and 32 of chikungunya, have also been reported in Delhi so far.
Mayor of East Delhi Municipal Corporation, Shyam Sundar Aggarwal told ANI that the administration is taking preventive measures: "Fogging of roads is being done in East Delhi Municipal Corporation along with spraying of pesticides in the drains to eliminate the larvae."
When asked if the preventive measures had been delayed this year, Aggarwal said that fogging has been as per WHO standards and since it involves petrol and other chemicals, the process had to wait until the temperatures were slightly low.
"We began the fogging process on September 1. All MCs are doing the same for their wards," he added.
Further, he said that out of the 12 cases of dengue in East Delhi, nine were from South Shahdara zone, while three are in the North Shahdara zone.
Presently, four dengue patients have been admitted to Loknayak Jaiprakash Hospital, Delhi's largest COVID hospital. Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Suresh Kumar told ANI that dengue has been confirmed in two children and two adults have been hospitalised.
"Apart from dengue, cases of viral fever are also increasing in Delhi. Now 50-60 cases of viral are coming every day, this number was 15-20 earlier. The number of serious patients admitted for the same is two to three every day," he added.
Further, Kumar informed that while earlier some 2500 patients came to OPD for viral fevers, now from the past one week, 3500 patients are visiting every day.
"1100-1200 patients are coming in the medicine department, while 400-500 patients are coming to the children's OPD every day. Some viral cases are also coming from the NCR area; patients from areas like Ghaziabad, Noida are also coming to LNJP after being referred here," he added.
He also informed that only the Delta variant of coronavirus has been detected in all cases sent for genome sequencing, and no new mutation of the virus was visible. (ANI)