Chennai: Chennai corporation commissioner Vikram Kapur brushed aside allegations of under reporting of dengue cases in the city and said the civic body was not ‘deliberately suppressing’ data related to the disease.
Officially, only one casualty has been recorded in the city due to dengue – a 15-year-old resident of Spur Tank Road, Kapur told media. “Reports of under reporting are not true. In fact, we encourage our officers to report more cases so that we can map the areas where the occurrence is more,” Kapur said.
“The mapping done so far has not revealed any concentration trends. Usually, if more than three cases are reported in a spot, then it is considered to be a trend,” he said. Kapur said 96 confirmed cases of dengue have been reported so far in 2015.
He ruled out revealing the name and location and details of the 96 patients as it was essential to “safeguard their privacy”. The corporation would not provide zone wise data of the recorded cases as well.
Information available with DC contradicts the data provided by the commissioner. During the period September 1 — October 5, just one private hospital in Mylapore recorded more than 60 dengue cases. The city has in excess of 500 hospitals functioning within its limits. “Suspected dengue is not dengue. It could be dengue or just about any other viral disease. Only after five days of testing can we confirm whether a patient has dengue or not,” Kapur said.
The city’s breeding index was less than one, and as such the city was less prone to dengue epidemic. “A breeding index above 10 is a concern but in the city both household and container breeding index is less than one,” said Kapur. “People should not be scared because we are not complacent about dengue,” he added.
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