Dengue deaths in Delhi at 6-year high

Six more dengue deaths have been reported in the city, taking the death toll to 15 this year — the highest in the past six years. Last week, 699 new cases were also reported, making the total count 8,975 so far as against 1,072 last year. Of these cases, 6,739 were reported in November alone and 699 in December.

Updated On Dec 7, 2021 at 07:23 AM IST

NEW DELHI: Six more dengue deaths have been reported in the city, taking the death toll to 15 this year — the highest in the past six years. Last week, 699 new cases were also reported, making the total count 8,975 so far as against 1,072 last year. Of these cases, 6,739 were reported in November alone and 699 in December.

According to a South Delhi Municipal Corporation report released on Monday, most of these deaths took place in October and early November. The report covered the data till December 4. “As the details were shared after proper verification by the department, it took us time to report these cases officially,” said a civic official.

The six victims included four men and two women — five from south Delhi and one from north Delhi. The deceased included a 25-year-old man from Turkman Gate who died at Lok Nayak Hospital on November 5, a 38-year-old man from Deoli village who died at Max Hospital on October 17 and a 13-year-old boy from Madangir who expired at Max Hospital on November 15, the report stated.

The rest included an 11-year-boy from Malviya Nagar who died at Max Hospital on October 22, a 20-year-old woman from Shahbad Mohammadpur who died at Ayushman Hospital on November 10 and a 43-year-old woman from Sarita Vihar who passed away at Holy Family Hospital on November 12.

The first dengue death was reported this year on September 26 when a 35-year-old woman from Sarita Vihar died at a private hospital. At the time of admission, she had low oxygen saturation, fluid in the lungs and a swollen liver, according to the death summary.

In 2015, the city witnessed a massive outbreak of the vector-borne disease with over 15,730 cases till December, making it the worst such scenario in Delhi since 1996. The number of deaths was 60 in 2015 and 423 in 1996. In 2016 and 2017, the official death count due to dengue was 10 each, while it was four in 2018, two in 2019, and one in 2020.

The total dengue cases were 4,431 in 2016, 4,726 in 2017, 2,798 in 2018, 2,036 in 2019, according to the report.