New Delhi, Oct 10 (PTI) The number of dengue cases in Delhi are on the rise with more than 300 new infections being reported in the first five days of October.

Of the total 1,258 cases recorded this year till October 5, as many as 693 were reported in September alone.

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The city had logged 937 cases of dengue this year till September-end, and 321 fresh cases were reported in the first five days of October, taking the tally of the vector-borne disease in the city to 1,258, according to a report released by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Monday.

It is also the highest number of dengue cases logged during the January 1-October 5 period since 2017, when the corresponding figure was 2,564.

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In 2015, the city had witnessed a massive dengue outbreak, with the number of cases crossing 10,600 in October. It was Delhi's worst dengue outbreak since 1996.

According to the MCD report issued on Monday, the city recorded 23 dengue cases in January, 16 in February, 22 in March, 20 in April, 30 in May, 32 in June, 26 in July and 75 in August.

No death has been reported so far this year due to the disease.

A total of 153 cases of malaria and 28 cases of chikungunya have also been reported this year in Delhi till October 5, the report said.

The MCD has said that it has been conducting drives to check the spread of dengue.

Amid a spike in dengue cases in the national capital, many people down with viral infection are exhibiting "overlapping symptoms" of Covid and the vector-borne disease, leaving both patients and doctors perplexed about the exact diagnosis.

Cases of vector-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria are usually reported between July and November, sometimes stretching till mid-December.

Symptoms of vector-borne diseases include high fever, headache, rash and muscle and joint pain, which are quite similar to that of Covid which also includes fever or chills, muscle or body aches, fatigue and headache among others.

In such a situation it has become difficult to ascertain whether a person suffering from fever, body ache and headache is Covid positive or not, doctors have said.

Last year, 9,613 dengue cases were recorded in the city, the highest since 2015, along with 23 deaths -- the highest since 2016.

According to the MCD report, breeding of mosquito larvae has been found at 1,37,938 households this year till October 5.

Authorities have issued 99,849 legal notices for mosquitogenic conditions, and 37,726 prosecutions were launched.

In 2018, Delhi had reported 830 dengue cases during the January 1-October 5 period, according to the report. The figures in 2019, 2020 and 2021 were -- 467, 316 and 480, respectively.

Ten deaths each were reported due to dengue in 2016 and 2017, four in 2018 and two in 2019.

According to official data, 4,431 dengue cases were recorded in Delhi in 2016, 4,726 in 2017, 2,798 in 2018, 2,036 in 2019 and 1,072 in 2020.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)