 "Mosquito Mayhem: Across metros, a struggle to contain the outbreak")
Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain is on the backfoot due the upsurge in vector-borne diseases in the national capital. Over the past two days, he has been trying to explain that chikungunya alone can't cause deaths. Jain's source of information was apparently Google. But there are other sources for him to derive solace from.
According to World Health Organization's fact sheet, serious complications from chikungunya are not common, but in older people, the disease can contribute to the cause of death.
Dengue, on the other hand, occasionally develops into a potentially lethal complication called severe dengue. And, severe dengue is a leading cause of serious illness and death among children in some Asian and Latin American countries.
The total number of suspected chikungunya cases across the country was 14,656 till September 11, 2016. West Bengal is at 461, Maharashtra at 1,024 and in Delhi, that number is pegged at 1,724.
The situation in the metros is alarming. The unofficial number of deaths caused by chikungunya and dengue are six and four, respectively. In Mumbai, at least one person has died due to dengue. The number of deaths related to dengue in Kolkata and adjoining areas is at 13.
Here is a detailed look at the chikungunya and dengue situation in the metros of Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai:
Delhi
A month after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government took charge in the national capital in 2015, the central government sent an advisory alerting the states of a possible dengue outbreak in the country.
Six months later, Delhi registered its worst epidemic, with 15,867 dengue cases that resulted in the loss of 60 lives. However, it would be unjust to lay the entire blame on a newly elected government as the responsibility of prevention rests equally with the municipality bodies and the central government. Both have spent more time in office than the AAP.
Expert say that even though the health is a state subject, very few people know that controlling an infectious disease is the joint responsibility of both the Centre and the state government. In the present case, the central government can be faulted for reducing the health budget in 2015-16 and failing to take appropriate measures to control the outbreak.
This year, a similar situation has erupted. In the last 10 days, the cases of chikungunya - another vector borne disease - have gone up by 90 per cent. A total of 432 such cases have been reported - the highest in the national capital since 2010. Officials say these are the confirmed cases of chikungunya and the actual number is much higher as most of the people either don't undergo tests or seek treatment in private hospitals.
The high number of chikungunya cases is attributed to the more than average rainfall in the national capital, but it also exposes the failure of a number of agencies.
For instance, Delhi's three municipal bodies failed to fill most of the vacant posts of domestic breeding checkers and anti-malaria inspectors before the onset of monsoon this year. In the such cases, where regular staff is absent, the municipalities outsource the work to private contractors where there is no accountability.
The AAP government, which has now completed over a year, has alleged that the municipalities have not properly spent the money allocated for sanitation.
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation, which received Rs 46.28 crore under the Swachh Bharat Mission in 2015-16 didn't spend a penny, where as the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) spent less than one percent of the Rs 31 crore it received from the Union government.
Subhash Arya, the leader of the house in the SDMC, said the three municipalities run by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were working round the clock to keep the disease at bay. The corporations have deployed 7,500 field workers and 900 supervisors.
The AAP government, which has increased its health budget 1.5 times this year for the treatment of nearly 6,00,000 people in its 33 hospitals, are engaged in a fight with the municipalities over the discharge of funds.
The blame game will continue till the role of each agency is clearly defined.
Kolkata
The All India Trinamool Congress website says that the Union Health Ministry had lauded the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) for taking measures to combat the spread of dengue last year even though West Bengal recorded nearly 8,516 cases of dengue with 14 deaths.
Unofficial figures suggest that in the current year, at least 13 deaths have been reported in Kolkata and its adjoining areas - all under municipalities. At least six of the deaths were in Kolkata. It prompted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to call for a high-level meeting to find solutions for the outbreak.
The government has now decided that schools, hospitals and under-construction buildings will be under the scanner for water stagnation. Kolkata Municipal Corporation has started dengue detection camps, even though an awareness campaign was launched in early July - when the monsoon first hit the state.
The campaign included putting up hoardings, distributing leaflets and spreading door-to-door awareness to prevent dengue. It is unclear if similar campaigns were launched in other parts of the state.
Till September 11, West Bengal had recorded nearly 24 deaths - the most in India - which is a little less than the half of the total deaths of 60 dengue deaths in the country. Nearly 6,650 cases of dengue have been detected in West Bengal, which is around 18 per cent of the total cases reported from across the country.
This year, dengue has turned out to the most fatal disease due to a shift in the type of strain in the virus. While earlier, there were more cases of strain one and three, since last year there has been a shift to strain two and four, which often lead to multiple organ failure, according to a health official at a state government hospital.
This apart, increasing urbanisation in the state is also partially responsible.
"Dengue is basically an urban disease. While there has been urbanisation, there is a lack of a proper waste disposal system," the health official said.
Looks like it will take more than printing pamphlets to prevent a dengue outbreak.
Mumbai
A 45-year-old female from Sindhudurg died of dengue on Wednesday at Mumbai's Nair Hospital.
The state health minister Deepak Sawant, however, has said that there is nothing to panic as his department has been in constant touch with the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and other civic bodies across the state to effectively take necessary steps.
A high level Inspection Coordination Committee comprising medical experts and doctors from state, civic and private hospitals has been reviewing the situation since March and suggesting steps to tackle malaria and dengue.
"A committee meeting under my chairmanship is slated for Friday to take stock of the situation and recommend the future course of action. I have been holding a review through video conference with all the municipal corporations," Sawant told Business Standard.
The government has recently classified dengue as a "notified disease" that will now enable officials to enter residential premises to check for larvae breeding of the dengue causing Aedes aegypti mosquito. Besides, health officials have been asked to conduct surprise visits to hospitals in Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra to check for stocks of medicines and hygiene conditions. Apart from massive fumigation, all civic bodies have been asked to clean tarpaulins and tyres that generally act as a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Further, the health department has put in place a standard operating protocol with regard to measures to be taken to tackle fever. Doctors are being trained to diagnose monsoon-related diseases like malaria, dengue and leptospirosis. Medical officers have been sent an advisory not to resort to platelet infusion even though it has reduced to 25,000 to 30,000 per microlitre of blood. Excessive use can hamper vital organs.
According to the minister, his department has asked the Food & Drugs Administration to intensify a drive against companies selling ice.
"The source of water they use needs to be ascertained to keep water-borne diseases in check. Since there is a spike in cases of water-related ailments , we have decided to conduct a massive drive to control diseases spreading through water," he said.
A survey recently conducted by the BMC had found ice cube samples collected from hotels, roadside vendors and juice centres to be contaminated by E Coli bacteria. E Coli is known to cause food poisoning symptoms such as abdominal cramps and diarrhoea.
According to World Health Organization's fact sheet, serious complications from chikungunya are not common, but in older people, the disease can contribute to the cause of death.
Dengue, on the other hand, occasionally develops into a potentially lethal complication called severe dengue. And, severe dengue is a leading cause of serious illness and death among children in some Asian and Latin American countries.
More From This Section
Data available with the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, on dengue, till September 2016, show that the total number of dengue cases across the country is at 36,100 while the number of deaths have been 70. West Bengal tops the charts in dengue deaths at 24. Maharashtra is at 2 and Delhi at 4.
The total number of suspected chikungunya cases across the country was 14,656 till September 11, 2016. West Bengal is at 461, Maharashtra at 1,024 and in Delhi, that number is pegged at 1,724.
The situation in the metros is alarming. The unofficial number of deaths caused by chikungunya and dengue are six and four, respectively. In Mumbai, at least one person has died due to dengue. The number of deaths related to dengue in Kolkata and adjoining areas is at 13.
Here is a detailed look at the chikungunya and dengue situation in the metros of Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai:
Delhi
A month after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government took charge in the national capital in 2015, the central government sent an advisory alerting the states of a possible dengue outbreak in the country.
Six months later, Delhi registered its worst epidemic, with 15,867 dengue cases that resulted in the loss of 60 lives. However, it would be unjust to lay the entire blame on a newly elected government as the responsibility of prevention rests equally with the municipality bodies and the central government. Both have spent more time in office than the AAP.
Expert say that even though the health is a state subject, very few people know that controlling an infectious disease is the joint responsibility of both the Centre and the state government. In the present case, the central government can be faulted for reducing the health budget in 2015-16 and failing to take appropriate measures to control the outbreak.
This year, a similar situation has erupted. In the last 10 days, the cases of chikungunya - another vector borne disease - have gone up by 90 per cent. A total of 432 such cases have been reported - the highest in the national capital since 2010. Officials say these are the confirmed cases of chikungunya and the actual number is much higher as most of the people either don't undergo tests or seek treatment in private hospitals.
The high number of chikungunya cases is attributed to the more than average rainfall in the national capital, but it also exposes the failure of a number of agencies.
For instance, Delhi's three municipal bodies failed to fill most of the vacant posts of domestic breeding checkers and anti-malaria inspectors before the onset of monsoon this year. In the such cases, where regular staff is absent, the municipalities outsource the work to private contractors where there is no accountability.
The AAP government, which has now completed over a year, has alleged that the municipalities have not properly spent the money allocated for sanitation.
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation, which received Rs 46.28 crore under the Swachh Bharat Mission in 2015-16 didn't spend a penny, where as the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) spent less than one percent of the Rs 31 crore it received from the Union government.
Subhash Arya, the leader of the house in the SDMC, said the three municipalities run by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were working round the clock to keep the disease at bay. The corporations have deployed 7,500 field workers and 900 supervisors.
The AAP government, which has increased its health budget 1.5 times this year for the treatment of nearly 6,00,000 people in its 33 hospitals, are engaged in a fight with the municipalities over the discharge of funds.
The blame game will continue till the role of each agency is clearly defined.
Kolkata
The All India Trinamool Congress website says that the Union Health Ministry had lauded the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) for taking measures to combat the spread of dengue last year even though West Bengal recorded nearly 8,516 cases of dengue with 14 deaths.
Unofficial figures suggest that in the current year, at least 13 deaths have been reported in Kolkata and its adjoining areas - all under municipalities. At least six of the deaths were in Kolkata. It prompted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to call for a high-level meeting to find solutions for the outbreak.
The government has now decided that schools, hospitals and under-construction buildings will be under the scanner for water stagnation. Kolkata Municipal Corporation has started dengue detection camps, even though an awareness campaign was launched in early July - when the monsoon first hit the state.
The campaign included putting up hoardings, distributing leaflets and spreading door-to-door awareness to prevent dengue. It is unclear if similar campaigns were launched in other parts of the state.
Till September 11, West Bengal had recorded nearly 24 deaths - the most in India - which is a little less than the half of the total deaths of 60 dengue deaths in the country. Nearly 6,650 cases of dengue have been detected in West Bengal, which is around 18 per cent of the total cases reported from across the country.
This year, dengue has turned out to the most fatal disease due to a shift in the type of strain in the virus. While earlier, there were more cases of strain one and three, since last year there has been a shift to strain two and four, which often lead to multiple organ failure, according to a health official at a state government hospital.
This apart, increasing urbanisation in the state is also partially responsible.
"Dengue is basically an urban disease. While there has been urbanisation, there is a lack of a proper waste disposal system," the health official said.
Looks like it will take more than printing pamphlets to prevent a dengue outbreak.
Mumbai
A 45-year-old female from Sindhudurg died of dengue on Wednesday at Mumbai's Nair Hospital.
The state health minister Deepak Sawant, however, has said that there is nothing to panic as his department has been in constant touch with the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and other civic bodies across the state to effectively take necessary steps.
A high level Inspection Coordination Committee comprising medical experts and doctors from state, civic and private hospitals has been reviewing the situation since March and suggesting steps to tackle malaria and dengue.
"A committee meeting under my chairmanship is slated for Friday to take stock of the situation and recommend the future course of action. I have been holding a review through video conference with all the municipal corporations," Sawant told Business Standard.
The government has recently classified dengue as a "notified disease" that will now enable officials to enter residential premises to check for larvae breeding of the dengue causing Aedes aegypti mosquito. Besides, health officials have been asked to conduct surprise visits to hospitals in Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra to check for stocks of medicines and hygiene conditions. Apart from massive fumigation, all civic bodies have been asked to clean tarpaulins and tyres that generally act as a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Further, the health department has put in place a standard operating protocol with regard to measures to be taken to tackle fever. Doctors are being trained to diagnose monsoon-related diseases like malaria, dengue and leptospirosis. Medical officers have been sent an advisory not to resort to platelet infusion even though it has reduced to 25,000 to 30,000 per microlitre of blood. Excessive use can hamper vital organs.
According to the minister, his department has asked the Food & Drugs Administration to intensify a drive against companies selling ice.
"The source of water they use needs to be ascertained to keep water-borne diseases in check. Since there is a spike in cases of water-related ailments , we have decided to conduct a massive drive to control diseases spreading through water," he said.
A survey recently conducted by the BMC had found ice cube samples collected from hotels, roadside vendors and juice centres to be contaminated by E Coli bacteria. E Coli is known to cause food poisoning symptoms such as abdominal cramps and diarrhoea.