At least five dengue cases, including three in March, have been detected in Delhi so far this year, even though the vector-borne disease is usually reported between July and November, a municipal report released on March 25 said.



Last year, 2,798 dengue cases and four deaths were recorded by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), which tabulates data on vector-borne diseases in the city. According to the report, a case each was reported in January and February and three were detected in March this year by the SDMC. 

Dengue cases are usually reported between July and November, but the period may stretch to mid-December.  While no fresh cases of malaria have been reported, three cases of chikungunya-- two in February and one in March-- have been recorded this year. Doctors have advised people to ensure that there is no breeding of mosquito larvae around them and to wear full-sleeved clothes and use mosquito nets.

Water coolers should be dried up when not in use as dengue infection-carrying mosquitoes breed there a lot, a doctor said. The civic bodies, who recently organised a workshop on the prevention of vector-borne diseases, said mosquito-breeding was reported from at least 1,387 households in the city this year and 2,293 legal notices were issued. 

Of the total dengue cases last year, 141 were recorded in December, 1,062 in November, 1,114 in October, 374 in September, 58 in August, 19 in July, eight in June, 10 in May, two in April, one in March, three in February and six in January, the report said. The rest of the cases were reported from areas outside the jurisdiction of the three municipal corporations of Delhi. 

Also, 473 cases of malaria and 165 of chikungunya were reported last year. According to the SDMC, 10 people had died due to dengue in Delhi in 2017, of whom five were not residents of the national capital.  Overall, the vector-borne disease had affected 9,271 people in the city that year.