Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Fears grow over dengue outbreak in India

Fears grow over dengue outbreak in India

THOUSANDS of people in India’s capital and hundreds of thousands across the nation are currently battling dengue fever, The Telegraph reported.

As a result, beds hastily converted for Covid-19 earlier this year are now being repurposed for dengue, the report added.


In India’s ongoing outbreak, which first erupted in late August in Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh, 88 children died. As the disease has spread across the country, there have been 116,991 cases nationally.

While dengue is usually a flu-like illness, severe dengue can cause serious bleeding and death. There are four strains of dengue fever, which is spread by mosquitoes, with varying degrees of mortality.

Dr Vikas Singhal, joint director of Uttar Pradesh’s vector borne disease unit, confirmed that the most virulent DENV-2 strain was behind 85 per cent of the cases in Firozabad.

However, he told The Telegraph that he could only confirm eight dengue deaths, while an audit into the other deaths is ongoing.

Uttar Pradesh has reported 23,128 cases of dengue this year, its highest toll since 2016. However, several officials said they suspect Uttar Pradesh is underreporting its cases due to limited testing and poor surveillance.

Cases have continued to rise across India as monsoon has lashed the country for an extended period, providing good breeding grounds for the mosquitoes in pools of standing water.

Patients from north Indian states have started pouring into Delhi, which has seen a major spike in cases in recent weeks. In total, it has logged 5,270 cases, the highest since 2015, with hospitals flooded by dengue patients.

Dr Ritu Saxena, chief casualty medical officer (CCMO) at the LNJP hospital, told The Telegraph: “At any given point of time, we have around 100 dengue patients admitted with us. To deal with it, we are utilizing the Covid beds for dengue patients.”

According to her, about 20 per cent of the admitted patients were in a serious condition and 10 per cent need intensive care unit support.

One municipal hospital in east Delhi, Swami Dayanand (SD), had to cancel elective and emergency surgeries after failing to cope up with the rush of dengue patients.

“We are getting nearly 250-300 fever cases each day. Out of them, 70 to 80 per cent are dengue patients and all our wards are full,” Dr Rajni Khandelwal, medical superintendent of the SD hospital, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Rural health centres in Punjab are reporting a shortage of medicines and paracetamol, and the dengue mosquito was found in 35,000 or the 1.5 million homes inspected by authorities, officials said.

“Unfortunately, dengue has sent a repeated alarm bell which the Indian health system has never looked into. There has been a lack of investment, thought and accountability in the public health system in India," Dr Sumit Ray, medical superintendent of the Holy Family hospital in New Delhi, told The Telegraph.

“If we have a surge like the second Covid wave, most of the Indian states including New Delhi will be overwhelmed because we are not prepared for it. There are areas in the country which are organized better and we should look at examples within the country and abroad to see how we can do better.”

More For You

Air India flight crash
Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating flight AI-171 to London Gatwick, crashed into a medical hostel complex shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12.
Getty Images

Investigators focus on engine fuel controls as Air India crash report nears release

Highlights:

 
     
  • Investigators are focusing on fuel control switches in the Air India crash.
  •  
  • The London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad.
  •  
  • A preliminary report is expected by Friday, around 30 days after the crash.

A PRELIMINARY report into the Air India crash that killed 241 people in June is expected by Friday, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rishi Sunak returns to Goldman Sachs, will donate salary to charity

Rishi Sunak. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Rishi Sunak returns to Goldman Sachs, will donate salary to charity

FORMER prime minister Rishi Sunak has returned to the banking world as senior adviser at Goldman Sachs group, with plans to donate his salary to the education charity he recently established with his wife Akshata Murty.

The US-headquartered multinational investment bank, where Sunak worked before entering politics, made the announcement on Tuesday (8) after the requisite 12-month period elapsed since the British Indian leader's ministerial term concluded following defeat in the general election on July 4 last year.

Keep ReadingShow less
 Post Office Horizon

A Post Office van parked outside the venue for the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry at Aldwych House on January 11, 2024 in London.

Getty Images

Post Office scandal linked to 13 suicides, says inquiry

Highlights:

 
     
  • Public inquiry finds up to 13 suicides linked to wrongful Post Office prosecutions.
  •  
  • Horizon IT system faults led to false accusations, financial ruin, and imprisonment.
  •  
  • Sir Wyn Williams says Post Office maintained a “fiction” of accurate data despite known faults.

A PUBLIC inquiry has found that up to 13 people may have taken their own lives after being wrongly accused of financial misconduct by the Post Office, in what is now described as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK ramps up drought response following driest spring

The EA has begun conducting more compliance checks on high-usage industries

Getty Images

UK ramps up drought response following driest spring since 1893

Key points

  • Spring 2025 was England’s driest and warmest in over 130 years
  • Reservoirs across England only 77% full, compared to 93% average
  • Environment Agency increases monitoring and drought planning
  • North-west England officially declared in drought

Water conservation measures stepped up ahead of summer

The UK government has increased efforts to manage water resources after confirming that England experienced its driest and warmest spring since 1893. The Environment Agency (EA) reported that reservoirs were on average only 77% full, significantly lower than the usual 93% for this time of year.

The announcement came after a National Drought Group meeting on Thursday, which reviewed the impact of continued dry weather on crops, canal navigation, and river flows. Poor grass growth and dry soil conditions were noted as threats to food production and livestock feed.

Keep ReadingShow less
Norman Tebbit

Following Thatcher’s third general election victory in 1987, Tebbit stepped back from frontline politics to care for his wife. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Former minister, Thatcher ally Norman Tebbit dies at 94

Norman Tebbit, a close ally of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and a former Conservative Party cabinet minister, has died at the age of 94. His son William confirmed the news on Tuesday.

"At 11:15 pm on 7th July, 2025, Lord Tebbit died peacefully at home aged 94," William Tebbit said in a statement.

Keep ReadingShow less