Sri Lanka says 63 have died from dengue fever outbreak this year
Sri Lanka, Apr 02, 2010
Sri Lanka's Epidemiology Unit of the Ministry of Health reported that a dengue fever outbreak in the country has taken the lives of 63 people so far this year, the Colombo Page newspaper reported. A total of 10,950 dengue cases have been reported so far this year, versus 3,096 cases reported during the same period last year, the newspaper reported. The total number of dengue patients diagnosed in 2009 was 35,010 the Colombo Page reported. The majority of dengue patients this year are from the Colombo and Gampaha districts in the Western Province while northern Jaffna district had 1,784 cases. Colombo reported 1,329 cases and Gampaha district recorded 1,393 cases, the newspaper reported. Dry weather over the past weeks has caused a reduction of dengue cases. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's Ministry of Health Care and Nutrition has appointed a national level special task force to help control the spread of dengue. The ministry said it will launch a broad based program to control the spread of the disease and has set up a task force with the support of all government ministries and other departments to help eradicate dengue fever, the newspaper reported. Under the task force, 65 Ministry of Health (MoH) divisions have been declared as high risk areas for the disease to spread. The Colombo Page notes that the number of dengue patients reported in March is lower than the first two months of this year. At least 1,790 cases were reported in March, versus 4,542 in February and 4,667 in January. Dengue fever, which is carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, causes symptoms of high fever, rashes, headaches and muscle and joint pain. Most dengue infections cause relatively mild illness, but some can progress into dengue hemorrhagic fever, which is a severe and often fatal complication of the disease.
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