43% Delhi-NCR residents now say they have someone in their family or close network who has been impacted by dengue this year

November 12, 2021, New Delhi: Media reports are rife with rising cases of dengue among both adults and children in various hospitals of Delhi-NCR, including Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad. The situation in the national capital has started getting worse across hospitals in both government and private facing a shortage of beds with hospital blood banks running out of blood. The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare held meetings with the state officials to ramp up measures to contain and mitigate the spread. The Delhi Government has ordered one-third of beds for COVID patients to be reserved for dengue along with patients with other vector-borne diseases. However, most hospitals are facing a shortage of beds for dengue patients where admission is given only to those patients who are serious. NCR hospitals are also under pressure due to a surge in cases, prompting a few hospitals in Noida to convert even their conference hall into a makeshift arrangement. LocalCircles, which operates the largest voluntary blood assistance network of Delhi NCR is seeing over 100% increase in blood requests week over week for last 6 weeks.

Many factors contribute to the surge in cases. An official from a Civic body were cited saying that fogging and breeding came to a halt during the 2nd wave. As the economy opened with ease in lockdown restrictions also led to restart construction sites, which are most favourable spots for mosquito breeding. Doctors were also reported saying that the dengue season would usually end by October, however, the delayed monsoon departure also contributed to the surge in cases. Per media reports, there has been 60% increase in cases in October over September.

Since mid-August, several residents of Delhi-NCR have reported on LocalCircles that they have someone in the family with symptoms of dengue like high fever, fatigue, joint pains etc. with some checking with the larger community about what was prevailing as such symptoms of epidemic-prone diseases like dengue may also co-exist in COVID cases. To understand the on-ground situation, LocalCircles has conducted a survey amongst residents of Delhi-NCR and get the aggregate percentage of people across 5 Delhi-NCR cities who have had dengue this year. The survey received 14,974 responses from residents of Delhi-NCR. 63% of the respondents were men while 37% were women.

45% Delhi residents say they have someone in their family or local social network who has been impacted by dengue this year

Hospitals like Apollo and Max have reported a 30-60% increase in the number of dengue cases in the last month. In Government hospitals, the State had to reduce the number of COVID-19 beds to use extra beds to treat dengue and other fever patients. The first question in the survey asked residents of Delhi about the number of individuals in their family or close network (extended family, friends, neighbors, colleagues) who have been impacted by dengue this year. In response, 10% of Delhi’s residents said they have “4 or more individuals” impacted by dengue this year. 19% said they have “2-3 individuals”, and 16% said only “1 individual”. The majority of 52% of Delhi’s residents surveyed said “no one, thankfully”. 3% couldn’t say. On an aggregate basis, 45% of Delhi residents say they have someone in their family or close local social network who has been impacted by dengue this year. This question in the survey received 6,769 responses.

43% Delhi-NCR residents say they have someone in their family or local social network who has been impacted by dengue this year

A similar question was asked to the residents of Delhi-NCR including Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad. On an aggregate basis, 10% of Delhi-NCR residents said there are “4 or more individuals” impacted by dengue this year. 19% said they have “2-3 individuals”, and 15% said only “1 individual”. The majority of 53% of Delhi-NCR residents surveyed said “no one, thankfully”. 3% couldn’t say. On an aggregate basis, 43% of Delhi residents say they have someone in their family or local social network who has been impacted by dengue this year. Overall, 14,974 responses from across Delhi-NCR were received.

Dengue is badly impacting not just Delhi but all NCR cities as well

If responses collected from residents of the Delhi-NCR cities are reviewed individually, it was found that 57% residents of Ghaziabad know someone who has been impacted by dengue this year, followed by Delhi with 45%, Noida with 44%, Faridabad with 40%, and 29% in Gurugram. The findings suggest that dengue is badly impacting not just Delhi but all NCR cities as well.

Percentage of people who have had one or more cases of Dengue this year in their family or close network

The findings indicate that dengue is not only impacting Delhi but all NCR cities including Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad. As found in the survey, 57% residents of Ghaziabad have someone they know who has been impacted by dengue this year, followed by Delhi with 45%, Noida with 44%, Faridabad with 40%, and 29% in Gurugram. The respective administrations on top priority should continue to deploy resources to contain and mitigate spread of Dengue on the municipal front and on the public health front ensure their city has the required hospital capacity to treat dengue patients. 70% citizens in an August survey by LocalCircles had said that their municipality wasn’t conducting anti-mosquito fogging or doing it very rarely. LocalCircles will escalate the findings of this study to the Chief Secretaries of the states of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh for their short term and long-term interventions.

Survey Demographics

14,974 responses were received from residents of Delhi-NCR covering all districts of Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad. 62% of the respondents were men while 37% were women. The survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform and all participants were validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.