New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS) The capital recorded 24 new cases of dengue Friday, pushing the total number of cases of the vector-borne disease in the city to 344, health department officials said.
“There are 24 new cases of dengue which have been confirmed in Delhi today (Friday). The numbers, on an average, have been consistent over the past few days although it’s still fewer than last year,” said N.K. Yadav, chief medical officer of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

Until now there have been two deaths recorded because of dengue - a 15-year-old boy and a nine-year-old boy.

But much against the assurances of the MCD that the number of dengue cases in the capital is low, private hospitals have said that in reality the numbers are much higher than what is being said.

Said Alok Deswal, a paediatrician at a private hospital in south Delhi: “Our hospital is full of dengue patients. A number of them are children.”

“What the government is saying is just the number of confirmed cases in government hospitals. But a lot of people are coming to private hospitals and nursing homes too. We have nine cases of dengue amongst children in our hospital itself,” he said.

Similarly an official of Dr. Dang’s, a pathological laboratory, said: “Private hospital beds are choc-a-bloc with dengue patients and the numbers, according to me, are much higher than what the government is putting out.”

Trashing their claims, however, Yadav told IANS: “All the patients that are admitted to the private hospitals are not confirmed for dengue. Most of them just go for a check-up and get admitted.”

“The daily count that is done by us includes the confirmed dengue cases from private hospitals as well,” he added.