60 dengue deaths in TN till Dec 10, say health officials

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu recorded 22,197 dengue cases and 52 deaths in the State in 2017, according to data recently released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

While the ministry’s data is provisional and valid till December 10, State health officials said the total number of deaths stood at 60 till that date.

The data released by the ministry suggests that Tamil Nadu accounts for the highest number of dengue cases and deaths. Until June this year, Tamil Nadu stood second after Kerala. The neighbouring State provisionally recorded over 19,000 cases and 37 deaths in 2017 until December 10.

The number of deaths in Tamil Nadu has increased 10 times and the number of cases have gone up almost nine fold from around 2,500 cases last year, and this is the highest since 2012 which saw 66 deaths. This data means that the State roughly contributed to at least 14 per cent of cases and 23 per cent of deaths from across the country this year.  

“We have confirmed 60 deaths from dengue this year. The ministry data will soon be updated said,” K Kolandaswamy, Director of Public Health. He added that these figures could utmost be treated in isolation and cannot be compared with the rest of the country.

“The figure neither gives the number of cases in a unit of population, nor does it compare and rank diagnostic facilities between States. TN and Kerala are keen on identifying every case of dengue and treating it.”