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NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 23: Cooling weather in northern India appears to have slowed the spread of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease that has killed at least 125 people in the past two months, news reports said.
Only 56 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, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
The latest dengue death came over the weekend, taking the toll to 125, state-run All India Radio said. The disease usually starts spreading as the annual monsoon season tapers off in August, leaving puddles of stagnant water for mosquitoes to breed.
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.
Sharp rain showers over the weekend led to a dip in temperatures across north India and a drop in dengue cases, said New Delhi's municipal health officer, NK Yadav, according to PTI. Dengue symptoms include high fever, joint pain, headache and vomiting. It can be fatal. |