Giving no respite, dengue has claimed five more lives raising the death toll to 109 across the country as 292 fresh cases of the viral disease were on Tuesday reported from various states, taking the number of those who have been afflicted to 5,710.
While three persons succumbed to the mosquito-borne infection in Delhi overnight, one patient each died in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, which is monitoring the spread of dengue, said.
Of the 292 new cases, 89 persons were admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences and other hospitals in the national capital region.
The total number of dengue deaths in Delhi has gone up to 39 while those infected to 1,637, both figures being the highest in the country.
Besides Delhi, reports of fresh cases of the disease came in from Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, the Disease Control Programme said.
Doctors have attributed majority of the deaths to delay in providing proper medical care.
On the dengue menace, a senior AIIMS doctor said, "There has been an increase in the number of serious cases" in the past few days in the national capital region.
The government has released Rs 22 crore to 11 states under a scheme to contain the outbreak.
The money, which is in addition to funds released earlier, will be utilised for buying fogging machines and larvicides and launching awareness campaigns, the Disease Control Programme said.
After Delhi, the maximum number of deaths has been reported from Maharashtra where 22 people have succumbed to the viral fever and 240 cases have been detected.
Kerala, which is also reeling under another mosquito-borne viral disease chikungunya, has reported four dengue deaths and highest number of 794 cases after the national capital region.
The death toll in other states are as follows: Uttar Pradesh 12, Rajasthan 10, Karnataka 7, Andhra Pradesh 5, West Bengal and Punjab 4 each, Gujarat 3, and Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh one each.
Besides Delhi, Kerala and Maharastra, 697 cases of dengue have been detected in Rajasthan, 457 in Uttar Pradesh, 443 in Gujarat, 429 in West Bengal, 367 in Punjab, 307 in Tamil Nadu, 214 in Haryana, 90 in Karnataka and 35 in Andhra Pradesh.
The other affected states include Bihar, Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
In 1996, when the first major outbreak of dengue occurred, 423 deaths and 10,252 cases were reported from Delhi and its neighbouring states.
In another big outbreak in 2003, 215 lost their lives and 12,754 people were affected by the infection.