Deadly dengue wreaks havoc in Delhi, death toll rises to 15

A total of 8,975 dengue cases and 15 deaths in Delhi have been recorded this season till December 4.

Image for representation

New Delhi: Six more deaths due to dengue have been reported in the national capital, taking the total number of fatalities due to the vector-borne disease reported in Delhi this year to 15, according to a municipal report released on Monday. The number of dengue cases jumped to over 8,900.

Till November 29, the official dengue death tally, maintained by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, had stood at nine. These nine victims had included a three-year-old girl and a minor boy.

According to the civic body's report on vector-borne diseases released on Monday, a total of 8,975 dengue cases and 15 deaths have been recorded this season till December 4.
In the previous years, the total dengue cases reported were 4,431 (2016), 4,726 (2017), 2,798 (2018), 2,036 (2019) and 1,072 (2020), according to the report.

In 2015, the city had witnessed a massive outbreak of dengue with the number of cases crossing 10,600 in October itself, making it the worst outbreak of the vector-borne disease in the national capital since 1996.

The number of dengue fatalities this year is the highest in the national capital since 2016, when the officially reported death count was 10. The national capital recorded two deaths due to dengue in 2019, four in 2018, and 10 each in 2017 and 2016.