So far 12,225 cases of chikungunya have been reported in the country – nearly half of what was reported in 2015.
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Earlier on Tuesday, the media had reported the death of two people.
In order to take necessary steps in this direction, the industry body has asked the Central and state governments to deal with the outbreak on a war footing to avoid an adverse effect on the tourism industry of the region. But, people should not panic, they should take adequate fluid and rest.
“Given the number of cases and five deaths in quick succession, it is an epidemic-like situation”, a senior doctor at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said.
A 75-year-old man from south Delhi succumbed to chikungunya complications at a city hospital on Thursday, taking to 12 the number of fatalities due to the disease.
The Union Health Ministry has asked the Delhi administration for a detailed assessment of the deaths related to the disease, NDTV reported.
With the reported Chikungunya death toll climbing to 12 in the national capital, Health minister Satyendra Jain on Friday rejected complaints of vector-borne disease patients about the shortage of beds in Delhi hospitals and claimed that at least 1,500 beds are still unoccupied.
Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra quoted Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as having said “no matter what”, the various agencies and political parties will have to work together to tackle chikungunya that has so far claimed at least 10 lives in Delhi this season.
According to the civic bodies, the highest dengue cases were reported in 2015 with a total of 15,876 people infected by the vector-borne disease with 60 deaths.
The five deaths, were of a girl from Jafrabad in North East Delhi, who died in July at Delhi Government’s Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital, becoming the first patient to succumb.
Even local clinics of west Delhi are full, with cases of mosquito-borne infections rising rapidly.
He also made it clear that there were no clear evidences of death due to chikungunya, “We can’t say if deaths were due to chikungunya; don’t have evidence of other diseases, we have evidence only of organ failure”.
“Surveillance for dengue and chikungunya in India presently captures only those patients that are laboratory confirmed at government identified sentinel hospitals, most of these are in the public sector”.
Residents are also angry that none of the key state ministers, including Kejriwal, who is in Bangalore, is in the national capital at a time when the city is battling this epidemic.
All this hype against chikungunya comes after four people were reportedly killed by the deadly virus in the last 24 hours.
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“We have sought a report (regarding chikungunya deaths) as to what has been the co-morbidity in these death cases and its details”, he added. Karnataka recorded 8,941 cases, followed by Maharashtra (839) and Andhra Pradesh (492).
