Delhi government is considering declaring the outbreak an epidemic after the number of dengue cases rose to 448 till September end.
"We will declare it as an epidemic if the situation is not brought under control by Tuesday," Delhi Health Minister Yoganand Shastri told reporters after a review meeting convened by Lieutenant Governor B L Joshi.
35 patients, including 18 resident doctors and students, are undergoing treatment at All India Institute of Medical Sciences where one student succumbed to the disease on Saturday.
"2,400 additional MCD personnel will be pressed into service to carry out fumigation and fogging drives on a war-footing across the capital," Shastri said.
Hospitals across the capital are making available blood and platelets required for treating those affected by dengue, officials said.
AIIMS Medical Superintendent D K Sharma told PTI that 35 dengue patients, including 18 resident doctors and students, have been admitted to the hospital. "All of them are stable," he said.
The outbreak, a common phenomenon during monsoon, appears to have assumed serious proportions with the death of 11 people this year against four during the corresponding period in 2005.
In a high-level meeting, held at Raj Niwas, Delhi B L Joshi said an intensive mass awareness drive should be undertaken through advertisements in newspapers about the disease and the necessary preventive measures such as keeping coolers clean and not accumulating water in and around residential and office complexes.
The meeting, which was also attended by Delhi Health Minister Yoganand Shastri, Principal Secretary D G Negi, MCD Commissioner A K Nigam and Municipal Health Officer N K Yadav, reached a conclusion that school children should actively be involved in the awareness compaign.
Asking MCD to put more persons into its inspection squad, Joshi said strict action should be taken against the erring employees who are responsible for ensuring hygiene and cleanliness in government offices.
The Health Minister informed Joshi that of the total 448 confirmed dengue patients in the capital, 201 have come for treatment from neighbouring states.
Meanwhile, Director General Health Services R K Srivastava has called a meeting on October 3 with MCD and NDMC to assess the situation arising from the outbreak.
He, however, described it as a routine meeting that is held from time to time.
Meanwhile, AIIMS Resident Doctors Association President Kumar Harsh too has been diagnosed with Dengue fever.
However, his condition is not serious as he is suffering from normal fever and not the deadlier Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever, which can prove fatal for the patient.
"Many cases in AIIMS are of normal Dengue fever and not the," AIIMS RDA spokesperson Anil Sharma said.
Two patients have died at AIIMS during last week after they developed complication due to DHF.
