Over 170 dengue cases have been recorded in the national capital so far this year, according to a civic body report released on Monday. According to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) report, the city recorded 23 dengue cases in January, 16 in February, 22 in March, 20 in April, 30 in May and 32 in June.

Till August 6, the capital had logged 174 dengue cases, the report said. On July 30, the number of cases stood at 169. Five fresh cases were reported in a week, it said. No death has been reported so far this year due to the disease, it added.

In 2017, Delhi had reported 251 cases during the January 1-August 6 period, according to the report. Last year, Delhi recorded 55 dengue cases between January 1 and July 30. During the same period, the number of cases stood at 35 in 2020, 47 in 2019 and 64 in 2018.

‘Robust case reporting’

When asked about the steady increase in untraced cases, senior MCD officials have been unable to explain the cause, adding that the numbers are a result of “robust case reporting”.

Last year, the city recorded 9,613 cases of dengue and 23 deaths, while over 2,900 of the cases were marked under the untraced after investigation category. The outbreak was the worst since 2015, when the city recorded 15,867 cases and 60 deaths. 

Apart from this, the city has recorded 35 cases of malaria and nine cases of chikungunya this year.