Dengue brings new worries to CWG organisers

New Delhi: A month before the Commonwealth Games, the capital seems to be facing a losing battle against dengue, with the total number of cases standing at 6279.

The dengue scare has spread so much that sources told CNN-IBN that the family members of the athletes are unwilling to come to Delhi.

Sources have told CNN-IBN that missions abroad have been writing to the health ministry saying that not just foreign tourists, the families of most international athletes are not willing to come to India.

The health ministry has been running campaigns to create awareness on how to prevent dengue but the downside is that it is creating bad press abroad.

The health ministry also feels that the situation is being projected as worse than what it actually is and it is mostly the hype that has scared the people.

But statistically speaking 2010 was a year health experts had warned about.

Health Secretary Sujatha Rao said, “The virus peaks every four years… unfortunately this is the year when it's peaked but the infection is more benign…not so many deaths repeated.”

Moreover, the beginning of the Commonwealth Games also coincides with the peak season of mosquito breeding. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) fears there will be a steady increase in the number of cases towards the end of September and beginning of October.

On Monday itself 63 positive cases of dengue were recorded in the national capital, which is the highest this season.

With construction work in full swing around the city, the health ministry is keeping its fingers crossed, hoping against hope that the dengue outbreak doesn't add to the Indian government’s embarrassment. The ministry is planning to write to its missions abroad asking them to reassure tourists that Delhi is a safe destination.