Sources said some labs in the city are not sending dengue test reports to the government.

Let's face it. Dengue has reached epidemic proportions in the national capital. This is the most horrific outbreak of the vector-borne disease in the last six years.

The number of cases reported till September 26 this year has soured to 5,982. The number for the same duration last year was a mere 98. 2010 was considered the deadliest year so far with 3,000 cases till September end, but that is only half of what has been reported this year.

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In the last one week alone, 2,191 cases have been reported from Delhi. As many as 33 people have reportedly died this season, though the official figure stands at 17.

We are compelled to call this an epidemic as by definition an epidemic is the rapid spread of an infectious disease among a large number of people in a given population within a short period of time, usually two weeks or less.

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Though the government has not officially said this is an epidemic, city doctors think otherwise.

"The Delhi government, along with the municipal corporations, should by now have declared the outbreak an epidemic," Dr Anil Bansal, senior physician and former president of Delhi Medical Association (DMA) told Mail Today.

He said these are many cases that are not in the knowledge of the authorities. "There are more than 1,000 private labs in the city which are not even sending their test reports to the government. Clearly, the number is much higher than what has been reported. Proper planning is required to deal with this situation," he said.

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Shifa (7) lies on a bed in the Dengue ward of a government hospital in New Delhi Shifa (7) lies on a bed in the Dengue ward of a government hospital in New Delhi

Dengue is transmitted by several species of mosquitoes within the genus Aedes. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles. Doctors say treatment is symptomatic with no specific cure, so if patients use pain medicines indiscriminately there is a risk of them becoming resistant to them.

Experts say it has been noticed that dengue witnesses a massive surge at an interval of every five years. Last time it was in the year 2010 when Delhi witnessed over 3,000 cases of dengue till September 26. The government admits the numbers are "on the higher side". "The numbers were expected to rise due to season change. Fogging needed to be carried out in time. Hospitals can't be held responsible for the spread of the disease," Amar Nath, secretary, department of health and family welfare, Delhi government, said.

Out of the total 5,982 cases, north Delhi recorded the highest at 1,734, south Delhi 1,633 while east Delhi posted the lowest with 754 cases. Of all civic zones in the city, Najafgarh Zone of South Delhi Municipal Corporation has recorded the highest number with 588 cases.

"In the last two-three days, the numbers have really gone up. Till a few days back, the situation was not that bad. Now, more and more patients are coming with low platelet count and that's alarming. I expect a dip in the numbers in the next few days, but we may be wrong," Dr Sumanjeet Chatterjee from Indraprastha Apollo hospital told MAIL TODAY.

Of the total number of cases this year, 214 were reported from areas outside the jurisdiction of the municipal corporations. While 72 cases were reported from Uttar Pradesh, 44 of those diagnosed with the disease came from Haryana and 69 came from other states.

A cold war, meanwhile, has broken out between Delhi government and the municipal corporation.

The Delhi government has been accused of waking up late to the menace. The state government, in recent days, has increased 1,000 beds in various hospitals and opened 55 fever clinics. But even after that the numbers have refused to go down.

"The magnitude is much higher than previous years. We are doing our best to ensure there is no laxity from our end. But the state government failed us. The budget was provided to us late. We had to increase our own health budget for dengue. If we had received the money earlier, some preventive measures could have been taken," Subhash Arya, mayor of South Delhi Municipal Corporation told Mail Today.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejrwal recently wrote a personal letter to residents of Delhi telling them not to worry. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Monday said the situation is under control and there is no need for panic.

No sale without prescription

Many chemist shops in Delhi have stopped the sale of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or blood thinners such as aspirin and ibuprofen - sold as Brufen - without prescriptions from registered medical practitioners.

The decision was taken by the Delhi government last month as these medicines lower the blood platelet count.

The medicines were cited by Health Minister Satyendar Jain as part of a drive to raise people's awareness about seasonal diseases, especially dengue which triggers a dangerous drop in the platelet count. There have been reports of self-medication leading to deaths.

Moreover, doctors at AIIMS cautioned against methods that do not have scientific proof of being effective against dengue.

With yoga guru Baba Ramdev saying that people should rely on ayurvedic products to protect themselves from the disease, the demand for giloy and papaya leaves apart from aloe vera and goat milk had shot up.

"We would advise people not to scramble for these as there is no scientific evidence or research which has conclusively said that these can be effective in the treatment of dengue," said Dr SK Sharma, head of the medicine department at AIIMS.

