Delhi's Anti-dengue Drive Brought Down Cases to 5 Years Low, Says Kejriwal Govt

Delhi has witnessed the "lowest" number of dengue cases this year as compared to the last five years, claimed the Arvind Kejriwal-led government.

The Delhi government claimed that its anti-dengue "10 Hafte-10 Baje-10 Minute" (10 weeks-10 O'clock-10 minutes) campaign launched in September has helped in bringing down cases of the mosquito-borne diseases in the city.

According to the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), which keeps a check on number of vector-borne cases in the national capital, Delhi has reported 177 cases of dengue in a week, raising the total number of people tested positive for the mosquito-borne diseases to 644 so far this year. The city has reported 1,020 dengue cases till October, the SDMC said.

Dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, chikungunya, zika virus, Yellow fever is spread by bite of mosquitoes that breed in stagnant water.

Dengue is spread by the bite of female mosquito - Aedes aegypti that bites during early morning and in the evening before dusk.

Delhi health minister Satyendra Jain on Monday said that the people of the national capital are heading to defeat dengue this year. He further appealed to the residents to continue to ensure that there is no accumulation of water in the vicinity, which might become a favourable breeding ground for dengue spreading mosquitoes.

"Delhi is on course to defeating dengue this year. The latest figures show that this year so far, the cases of dengue have been the lowest in last five year. I appeal to everyone to keep up the prevention and awareness efforts for the next few weeks," Satyendra Jain said.

The latest data released by SDMC shows that there has been no deaths due to dengue till October 19 in Delhi.

On the other hand, malaria cases have seen a rise in the national capital. At least 76 people were tested positive for malaria, taking the total cases so far this year in Delhi to 535. During the same period last year, 411 patients were tested positive for malaria.

The SDMC report also reported 5 new cases of Chikungunya reported last week, taking the total number of cases so far this year to 11. The report further stated mosquito-breeding in at least 1,61,396 houses and so far this year, 1,28,599 legal notices have been issued.

The campaign launched by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to prevent breeding of mosquitoes in the neighbourhood will be on till November 15.