Dengue in Delhi: 4,469 cases reported in 2022, 9 fatalities

Delhi reported 4,469 dengue cases in 2022, 53 per cent less than the preceding year, according to data shared by the city's civic body on Monday.

Till December 31 last year, dengue claimed nine lives. In 2021, Delhi recorded 9,613 cases, the highest since 2015. It also reported 23 deaths -- the highest since 2016.

Cases of vector-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria are usually reported between July and November, sometimes stretching till mid-December.

In 2022, the city recorded 23 dengue cases in January, 16 in February, 22 in March, 20 in April, 30 in May, 32 in June, 26 in July, and 75 in August, according to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) report issued on Monday.

The number of cases surged manifolds after August. The highest number of cases in 2022 was lodged in November (1,420) followed by 1,238 in October while 874 cases were recorded in December.

In 2015, Delhi witnessed a massive dengue outbreak, with the number of cases crossing 10,600 in October, the worst since 1996.

The city also recorded 263 cases of malaria and 48 cases of chikungunya in 2022, according to the MCD report.

Symptoms of vector-borne diseases include high fever, headache, rash, muscle and joint pain, similar to that of COVID-19, which also include fever or chills, muscle or body aches, fatigue and headache among others, officials of the MCD’s health department said.

The official data showed that 4,726 dengue cases were recorded in Delhi in 2017, 2,798 in 2018, 2,036 in 2019, 1,072 in 2020, and 9,613 in 2021.

The vector-borne disease claimed ten lives each in 2016 and 2017, four in 2018, two in 2019, one in 2020, and 23 in 2021.

The MCD report stated that breeding of mosquito larvae has been found at 1,71,334 households this year till December 23.

Authorities have issued 1,22,282 legal notices for mosquitogenic conditions, and 45,934 prosecutions were launched so far.