Dengue Fever Cases Drop in India

The spread of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease, is slowing down in India with only two deaths reported across the country in the past day, a health official said Monday.

The disease has so far killed 124 people in 12 states this year out of a total of 7,488 cases reported by various hospitals, P. L. Joshi, a director in India's Health Ministry, told reporters.

New Delhi accounted for 42 of these deaths, creating a panic situation with thousands of people rushing to government hospitals with suspected symptoms of the disease _ high fever, joint pain, headache and vomiting.

Municipal workers went door-to-door to check for possible places where mosquitoes could breed, and sprayed trouble spots with insecticide. Workers with fogging machines mounted on bicycles also went through congested neighborhoods spraying clouds of pesticide to kill mosquito larvae.

Authorities also stopped all water fountains in the Indian capital.

Only 53 cases of the disease were reported in New Delhi hospitals over the past 24 hours, a drop from the average of 80 a day seen in the past week, Joshi said Monday.

The disease usually starts spreading as the annual monsoon season tapers off in August, leaving puddles of stagnant water for mosquitoes to breed. Open sewers that are features of many Indian towns and cities provide even more breeding grounds.

But the female Aedes mosquitoes which transmit dengue cannot survive in cold conditions, and the annual outbreak usually ends as the weather cools in late October or early November. Rain showers over the weekend led to a dip in temperatures across northern India.