Another dengue death in Delhi; total cases jump to over 7,600

A 50-year old man has become the latest victim of dengue in the city, taking the death toll to 38 even as the number of patients down with the vector-borne fever this year climbed to a menacing 7,606.
With the latest casualty, the death toll due to dengue in Delhi has shot up to 38 while officially, the figure stands at 25.
The man, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, died at the Safdarjung Hospital Sunday evening, hospital officials said.
According to a municipal report on the vector-borne disease released today, at least 1,624 fresh dengue cases were reported in the last one week.

The total number of people down with the vector-borne fever in the city this year has climbed to over 7,600, making it the worst outbreak of the deadly disease in the last six years.
Meanwhile, in view of the immense rush, doctors in government hospitals have started providing standard treatment required to alleviate symptoms in a suspected dengue patient without waiting for ELISA test reports.

According to doctors, management of dengue cases does not depend on confirmation of diagnosis.
"So, we don't wait for platelet count tests or for ELISA test results to begin the treatment. What a dengue patient requires in initial stages is fluid management.

"All dengue patients do not need blood or platelets. There is no need to panic if there are no bleeding manifestations such as bleeding from nose, gums, mouth, under the skin, or through vomiting, urine or stool, even if the platelet count falls up to 20,000," a doctor at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital said.
Ashutosh Biswas, Additional Professor of Medicine at AIIMS, said a person suffering from dengue experiences severe dehydration due to which blood thickens, leading to haemoconcentration, increase in the proportion of red blood cells and decreased blood pressure, which in turn leads to multi-organ failure.

"Adequate hydration is the best management approach to dengue while keeping a tab on the hematocrit levels," he added.
North Delhi has recorded the highest number of dengue cases at 1,923 while south Delhi recorded 1,960 and east Delhi posted the lowest with 1,011 cases. Of all civic zones in the city, Najafgarh Zone of SDMC has recorded the highest number with 657 cases.
1,036 people diagnosed with the disease came from outside of Delhi.
Last year, the city had reported three deaths and recorded nearly 1,000 cases.
Till October 3, the number of houses found positive for mosquito breeding stands at 2,09,593 while number of prosecution launched in the same period is 19,819, according to the report.