NEW DELHI: Despite cooler weather that helps reduce mosquito breeding, there was a sudden spurt in dengue cases on Tuesday with 155 more people in the northern region being afflicted by the disease, which claimed three more lives pushing the country-wide toll so far to 135.
As many as 69 fresh cases each were detected in Delhi and Rajasthan, 10 in Haryana and 7 in Chandigarh. Two cases each were found in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, raising the total number of people who have suffered country-wide from the viral infection to 7687, National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) said.
Dengue claimed three more lives--one each in Delhi, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh--taking the total death toll to 135. Delhi has accounted for 50 deaths and 2173 cases of infection, both figures being the highest in the country.
Dengue-causing Aedes aegypti mosquito breeds less vigorously in temperatures ranging between 18 degrees and 24 degrees Celsius and stops breeding completely once the mercury dips below 18 degrees, said Bir Singh, Professor of Community Medicine at All India Insititute of Medical sciences (AIIMS).
Health officials here, however, attributed the increase in number of dengue patients to under reporting by smaller hospitals during the festival weekend.
Snowfall and rain in north India led to a dip in the mercury in Delhi, which recorded a low of 16.5 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, the weather office said. The weatherman, however, said that winter was yet to set in and the lower temperatures were due to regional disturbances.
With 69 new cases, the total number of dengue patients in the capital this year rose to 2,173. On Sunday, 56 fresh cases were reported in the capital, while 53 patients with dengue were yesterday admitted to various hospitals.
"The increase in the number of patients is primarily due to non-reporting of dengue cases by smaller hospitals over the past three days on account of Diwali holidays," Municipal Health Officer N K Yadav said.
In addition to the 50 deaths in Delhi, dengue toll in other places was--19 in Maharashtra, 14 in Andhra Pradesh, 13 each in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, 7 in Karnataka, 5 in West Bengal, 4 in Punjab, 3 in Gujarat, 2 in Haryana and one in Tamil Nadu.
The number of people affected by the virus is--2173 in Delhi, 972 in Rajasthan, 834 in Kerala, 675 in West Bengal, 586 in Punjab, 582 in Maharashtra, 456 in Gujarat, 315 in Haryana, 308 in Tamil Nadu, 100 in Chandigarh, 92 in Karnataka and 81 in Andhra Pradesh, NVBDCP said.
