Dengue cases rise to 35 in AIIMS

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New Delhi: In an emergency meeting called by the Director General of Health Services on Sunday, Civic Bodies and hospitals discussed ways to deal with the current outbreak of dengue in Delhi.

"Dengue will be declared an epidemic in Delhi if condition doesn't improve by Tuesday," Delhi Health Minister Yoganand Shastri said on Sunday .

Fresh cases of dengue have been reported at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

One of the 12 medical students suffering from the deadly fever died on Saturday, less than 24 hours after he was admitted.

"The increased numbers of dengue cases indicate the situation is serious enough to be called an out break. However the medico death is an isolated incident. AIIMS has increased its emergency services for greater help," AIIMS Medical Superintendent, DK Sharma, said.

What is the difference between an outbreak and epidemic?

An epidemic is a disease that affects many people at the same time, such as the flu. It is defined as the occurrence of more cases of disease than expected in a given area or among a specific group of people over a particular period of time.

The term outbreak describes the sudden rise in the incidence of a disease, especially a harmful one. An outbreak is characterized by a disease's bypassing of measures to control it. Often, the difference between these terms is determined by the percentage of deaths caused by the disease.

Meanwhile, official figures released on Sunday indicate that the number of dengue cases in AIIMS has risen from 22 to 35 till date.

Out of the 35 patients registered so far, 18 are AIIMS resident doctors and five are the hospital staff.

"Many residents don't clean their water coolers and allow water to stagnate. This gives way to breeding of mosquitoes," Professor Bir Singh from AIIMS Department of Community Medicine said.

The number of dengue cases in Delhi rises drastically after August every year. But this year the situation is much worse, with over 121 cases being reported in just the last week.

But doctors say there's no need to panic since the fever is harmless in most cases.

"By and large in 80 to 90 per cent of the cases, patients recover within a period of seven to eight days," Professor of Medicine at AIIMS Randip Guleria said.

The Delhi Municipal Corporation has asked 2,400 additional personnel to step in to help with the sanitation drive.