33 dengue cases reported Sunday, 202 this year

The spurt in dengue cases has prompted Delhi Health Minister Dr A K Walia to warn officials responsible for fumigation and other drives to contain mosquito breeding that dereliction of duty would not be tolerated and the disease has to be tackled on a war-footing.

As the minister sounded the alert to officials from his department as well as those from the municipal corporations, the city on Sunday reported 33 new dengue cases — taking the total number of people diagnosed with the viral disease this season to 202.

The North Municipal Corporation reported the highest number of cases at 90, while the South corporation came a close second with 71 confirmed cases. The East corporation has 31 cases and three persons from the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area have tested positive so far.

Health officials said five patients from neighbouring states have been diagnosed with dengue in Delhi hospitals. There have been two deaths this season — a nine-year-old girl from Sangam Vihar and a 38-year-old man from Loni in Ghaziabad.

Walia convened a review meeting — the second in two weeks — and asked health officials to spread awareness about mosquito breeding. He said health workers, including the accredited social health activists (ASHA), need to be involved to make people aware of the measures to contain breeding of mosquitoes in houses and colonies.

A door-to-door campaign should be carried out, he said.

Walia said health officials should monitor the availability of beds in hospitals, platelets in blood banks, and test kits. Disaster wards should be opened, if the need arises, to accommodate patients suffering from vector-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria.

The minister told health officials of municipal corporations to focus their attention on areas from where maximum number of mosquito-breeding has been reported.

... contd.

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