Notwithstanding the intensified sanitation drive, dengue cases continued to rise in Delhi where one person succumbed to the viral taking the toll to 28.
Patients with febrile illness continued to flock various hospitals in Delhi where 95 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours ending 11 am on Saturday, health officials said.
The total number of patients afflicted by the mosquito-borne disease stood at 1373, of which 892 were from Delhi and 481 from the neighbouring areas.
One Farhana, a resident of Hauz Rani locality of south Delhi, died at the AIIMS on Friday, which screened 921 people for suspected dengue.
At least 200 people have been kept under observation, while 39 patients have been admitted, taking the total number of patients being treated at the hospital to 165, AIIMS spokesman Shakti Gupta said.
Thirty-four patients have been discharged from the AIIMS since Saturday.
Despite the intensive fogging and fumigation drive, several parts of the Central Zone, mostly along the banks of river Yamuna, continued to report a high number of dengue cases.
"A large-scale contruction activity is being carried out in parts of the Central Zone, which has led to open sewers -- fertile breeding grounds for the Aedes mosquito," said Municipal Health Officer N K Yadav, who toured the area.
Another problem of the area is irregular water supply at unauthorised construction sites, which leads to storage of water for various purposes, which also is causing the spread of the mosquitoes.
© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
|