The Hindu : National : Chikungunya on decline, vigil on dengue continues

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Friday, Oct 20, 2006
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Chikungunya on decline, vigil on dengue continues

Special Correspondent

Only 525 suspected chikungunya cases reported since Wednesday

NEW DELHI: The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry on Thursday claimed that chikungunya cases were on the decline.

"The figures of the past one week have shown that the chikungunya cases have come down and the trend has been steady. However, while we can say dengue cases have also stabilised, we will have to watch the trend for another week," P.L. Joshi, Director of the National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme told reporters here.

Only 525 suspected chikungunya cases were reported from 12 districts since Wednesday as against the thousands reported earlier from close to 28 districts. Of the new suspected cases, 339 have been reported from Kerala, 93 from Gujarat, 41 from Madhya Pradesh, 48 from Karnataka and 4 from Tamil Nadu. From across the country, 1,653 confirmed cases have been reported.

From Delhi and the National Capital Region, 28 chikungunya cases were reported. Apart from Delhi, the most cases were reported from Maharashtra (679) followed by Karnataka (294), Andhra Pradesh (248), Gujarat (160), Tamil Nadu (111), Madhya Pradesh (62), Kerala (38), Rajasthan (24) and Pondicherry (9).

While Mr. Joshi said that 112 deaths had been caused by dengue, the total of affected people was 6,740. A total of 1,820 cases and 33 deaths was reported from the capital that includes the National Capital Region. Of these, 1,144 cases were reported from Delhi and 676 cases from outside. This includes 207 cases from Haryana, 362 from Uttar Pradesh, 16 from Rajasthan and 91 from the other States.

"There has been a definite decline in the dengue cases also but we can say nothing with certainty for at least another week as there could be many patients in the incubation period. It is difficult to say whether the trend would be maintained or not," Mr. Joshi said.

Of the five deaths reported since Wednesday, three are from Andhra Pradesh and two from Delhi. Apart from Delhi, the most dengue cases have been reported from Kerala (834), Rajasthan (830), Gujarat (449), West Bengal (573), Uttar Pradesh (478), Tamil Nadu (307), Punjab (413), Maharashtra (580), Haryana (232), Karnataka (92) and Andhra Pradesh (57).

Explaining that only action by the civic bodies could check mosquito breeding, Mr. Joshi said no amount of smoke due to crackers could kill the mosquitoes. The temperature going down for a day would not prevent their breeding, he said.

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