Chennai: Tamil Nadu tops the list of highest number of dengue cases and deaths amongst all other states of the country as per the recent update by the National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme.
Tamil Nadu recorded 23,035 dengue cases and 63 deaths due to dengue in 2017.
The death cases recorded till mid-December were 52 that rose to 63 after 11 death cases in past two months were confirmed due to dengue, while four cases are still under investigation, as per the recent fever audit by the State health department. The death toll due to dengue this year is highest since 2012 when the total number of deaths in the state was 66.
Tamil Nadu has seen the highest number of dengue cases in last seven years, followed by 12,826 cases in 2012.
Earlier this year, Kerala had a high incidence of dengue cases and it records 19, 912 dengue cases and 37 deaths till December 24. However, the incidence of dengue in Tamil Nadu surged in the last six months and more than 42 deaths and around 18,861 dengue cases have been registered since July.
However, the incidence of dengue has declined manifold after monsoons and government hospitals have fewer patients. Officials of state health department say that rains did a dual work of washing away the dengue larvae and also provided for water needs preventing storage of water and thereby, breeding of mosquitoes.
