Delhi / Delhi reports first death due to dengue, 723 total cases this year

New Delhi: Delhi last week reported its first death due to mosquito-borne viral illness dengue this year, according to a weekly report by municipal authorities. The city has reported 723 cases of dengue so far in 2021 including 382 in October alone. The report said 243 cases of dengue were reported in just one week. In comparison, 395 cases of dengue were reported during the same period last year. There were 644 cases reported in the same period of the year in 2019.

Delhi faced its worst dengue outbreak in 2015 when nearly 16,000 people were affected and 60 died.

Dengue causes fever, body ache, nausea, vomiting, and in severe cases fatal drop in blood pressure or internal bleeding. Dengue came into prominence amid a waning Covid-19 pandemic after it was identified as one of the diseases, along with scrub typhus and leptospirosis, which claimed at least 51 lives, mostly of children, in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

This year along with the mild type 1 dengue, the severe type 2 is also in circulation in parts of the country.

There are four serotypes of dengue virus. Type 1 and 3 are the milder serotypes while type 2 and 4 are associated with severe disease. Patients suffering from serotypes 1 and 3 have symptoms like fever, headache, body ache, and pain behind the eyes. Type 2 is associated with more severe disease leading to drop in platelet count, inability to form blood clots, and internal bleeding. Type 4 is associated with leaking of fluids from the capillaries leading to drop in blood pressure and circulatory shock (not enough blood reaching the organs).

Officials previously said the surge in cases of dengue was late this year because of the delayed monsoon and sporadic heavy showers followed by dry spells that promote the breeding of the aedes aegypti mosquito which spreads the infection. The aedes aegypti mosquito breeds in clean, stagnant water. Monsoon showers lead to water collection across the city, increasing the breeding grounds for the mosquito.

Usually, the number of cases starts increasing in July after the monsoon showers and peak in October. The life cycle of the mosquito is eight to 10 days. Experts suggest cleaning out all stagnant, clean water sources every week. This is the basis of the Delhi government’s “10 hafte, 10 baje, 10 minute” campaign to prevent mosquito breeding.