Largest number of diphtheria deaths reported from Delhi

In 2010,a total of 3129 cases of diphtheria were reported — of which 731 were found to be from Delhi. According to CBHI records,the number of diphtheria deaths have increased significantly over the years. In 2009,90 of the 122 deaths and 349 of 3,529 cases were reported from the Capital. In 2008,only 37 of the 70 diphtheria deaths were reported from the Capital. These figures,released by the Directorate of Health Services(DHS) in every state,were compiled by the CBHI at the Central level.

Officials from the Delhi government’s Health department blame the rising numbers of patients from neighbouring states,who are forced to seek treatment in the Capital,for want of specialised treatment facilities in their states. “The Infectious Diseases (ID) hospital in Kingsway Camp,which is the centre authorised to treat diphtheria patients,has 80-90 per cent patients from places outside Delhi at any given time. Diphtheria management requires high-grade isolation facilities that cannot be provided in every hospital. Thus,the anti-diphtheria serum is only available in select facilities. This bulk of patients is not under our coverage area for vaccination,but they are reported from here since they get treated in Delhi,” a senior official said. Agreeing to this,Health minister Dr A K Walia said,“Our immunisation facilities have increased from 82.3 per cent to 84.01 per cent from 2009 to 2010. We treat a lot of patients from outside the Capital,and the numbers should be verified as per the patient’s area of residence.”

Incidentally,whooping cough or pertussis,for which the same DPT vaccine is used for routine immunization,has witnessed a sharp drop in the Capital from 826 in 2009 to 65 in 2010. “If the immunisation process was inefficient,then diphtheria,whooping cough and tetanus — the three diseases covered under DPT — should also have gone up on similar lines,” the official pointed out.

Cases of neonatal tetanus,or tetanus immediately after birth,has increased “marginally” from 11 cases in 2009 to 19 in 2010,officials said. However,measles — another contagious diseases in the list of vaccine preventable diseases — has seen the number of cases double to 1,512 last year in Delhi from 757 in 2009.

From nine reported cases in 2009,the number of deaths from measles increased to 14 in 2010.

Delhi has seen an increase in the number of deaths caused due to viral hepatitis from 40 in 2009 to 61 in 2010,though the total number of cases has dropped from 7,651 to 6,510. Non-neonatal tetanus,which is outside the domain of the routine immunisation,has also seen a steep rise,from 11 cases and two deaths in 2009 to 71 and 15 in 2010.