The number of dengue fever cases documented in the first 25 weeks of this year is down 83 percent compared to the same period last year, according to a report from the National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control (NMC).
Out of more than 1,000 cases this year, only six were fatal. During the same period last year, there were 25 deaths among more than 6,000 reported cases of the disease.
Chor Meng Chuor, the director of NMC, noted in the report that despite the drastic decline, there has been an increase in the proportion of cases that are adults.
“4.8 percent of all the dengue fever cases reported in these first two quarters were adults who are older than 15, while from 2007-2013, only 2 or 3 percent [of cases] were adults,” he said.
Outbreaks of dengue fever are cyclical, and tend to occur every three to five years.
In 2012, there were about 11,200 cases of dengue fever and in 2007—the worst year for the virus in the past decade—there were about 15,700 cases.
Over the past five years, only 0.43 percent of reported dengue fever cases have resulted in deaths.
