20 die of dengue in Nepal

Kathmandu: At least 20 people died of dengue across Nepal in over two weeks as the mosquito-borne disease continues to be on the rise in the Himalayan nation, health officials said here on Monday.

The first death due to dengue this year was reported from Kaillai district in Far-West Nepal where a 35-year-old woman succumbed to the disease on September 1.

Twenty people died due to dengue across the country in the last 18 days, health ministry spokesperson Samir Kumar Adhikari said.

Dengue has spread in 75 districts of the total 77 districts in the country. The number of dengue cases has so far reached 16,587, he said.

Ten districts hold 85 per cent of the dengue cases. These are Lalitpur, Kathmandu, Makawanpur, Dang, Bhaktapur, Rupandehi, Chitwan, Gulmi, Darchula, and Kavrepalanchok.

Lalitpur has the highest number of dengue patients with 4,604 infections, followed by Kathmandu with 4,445 cases, Makwanpur 1,597 cases and Dang 994 cases.

Earlier, the disease used to be observed in the tropical regions, but this year, it has spread to even temperate parts of the country, Adhikari added.

Following the rise in dengue infection, the health ministry has put the infection in the high alert zone.

Symptoms such as high fever, severe body ache, nausea, and vomiting are common symptoms of dengue. Severe symptoms are loss of platelets, blood loss, and organ failure, Adhikari said.

Dengue is a viral infection transmitted to humans through the bite of infected female Aedes mosquitos.