Tamil Nadu reported highest dengue deaths in 2017

CHENNAI: The number of deaths due to dengue in the country in 2017 stood at 253, with Tamil Nadu topping the list with the death of 65 people, Union health minister J P Nadda told Parliament on Friday.

Replying to a question in Lok Sabha, the Minister said 23,294 people were infected with dengue in Tamil Nadu in 2017 out of which 65 of them lost their lives. Tamil Nadu was closely followed by Maharashtra (41 deaths), Kerala (37) Uttar Pradesh (28) and West Bengal (19), the data said. While 2,531 cases and 5 deaths were reported in 2016, there were 4,535 cases and 12 deaths in 2015 in the state, the data presented by the minister said. In the month of January 2018, 813 cases have reported but no deaths so far, the data says.

Dengue deaths in the months of October and November kept the AIADMK government on its toes with the Centre dispatching a high-level team to check the state administration’s preparedness. After much hue and cry from opposition parties and civil society, the government launched mass cleaning activities across the state, following which the number of cases came down. Though the government maintained that it was taking all precautionary measures to ensure that dengue spread, the state registered maximum deaths due to the disease.