* Dengue outbreak claims 63 lives this year in Sri Lanka
Thu, Mar 25, 2010, 07:54 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Mar 25, Colombo: Dengue outbreak in Sri Lanka has taken lives of 63 patients so far this year, the Epidemiology Unit of the Ministry of Health reveals.

A total of 10,950 dengue cases have been reported until this week. During the same period last year only 3,096 cases had been reported. The total number of dengue patients diagnosed in 2009 was 35,010.

A majority of the dengue patients this year was from Colombo and Gampaha districts in the Western Province while Jaffna district had the highest number with 1,784 cases.

The dry weather during the past weeks has caused reduction of dengue cases. But the health authorities are alarmed by the increase of cases with the onset of inter monsoonal showers.

Health authorities appeal to the public to keep their environs clear of water stagnating places where mosquitoes breed.