India fights dengue, chikungunya outbreak

The outbreak of chikungunya and dengue - both diseases transmitted by insect bites - in India’s capital Delhi and few other cities in the northern parts of the country has become a major cause for concern.

Indian patients undertaking treatment for viral infections including dengue fever at Vadilal Sarabhai hospital in Ahmedabad Sam Panthaky/AFP

Across India, nearly 80 people have died and more than 38,000 people have been affected by dengue since the beginning of the year, according to the health ministry. 

The number of those suffering from chikungunya has  run into thousands with poeple in the  capital being particularly vulnerable. RFI correspondent Murali Krishnan has this report.