Explore possibility of new dengue variant: Delhi lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena

NEW DELHI: In a recently held meeting, LG Vinai Kumar Saxena directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to take expert advice on determining whether a new variant of the virus for dengue has emerged in the city as the cases keep cropping up even during summer and all around the year.
Earlier, while reviewing the status of vector-borne diseases in the city, the LG asked officials to consult experts and epidemiologists to ascertain if a new virus strain had evolved so that it could be effectively addressed.
Although the numbers are low, cases are being recorded every week in the city, even though usually the dengue cases end in the winter season. Last year, more than 9,500 cases were reported, breaking the record for the past five years and around 24 deaths, which was also very high numbers.
According to MCD officials, the number of high cases and the round-the-year reporting has a reason. The Delhi government in October last year, under the epidemic act, had made it mandatory for all the health facilities in the national capital to report the cases to the administration. According to health experts in the civic bodies, this is the reason for cases coming throughout the year.
Terming the occurrence of dengue even after the end of monsoons and early winter last year as worrisome, Saxena directed officials of the municipal bodies to substantially enhance their efforts at containing the breeding of disease-causing mosquitoes.