Monsoon arrival results in five dengue deaths in Kerala

The arrival of the monsoon in southern India, has resulted in an outbreak of dengue that has claimed the lives of five people.

Twenty-four cases of dengue were reported last weekend, of which 21 were in Thiruvananthapuram.

Spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, dengue has grown rapidly along with urbanisation and globalisation because it thrives in tropical mega-cities and is easily spread in goods containing small puddles of water, such as used tyres.

A dengue patient, Janki said she faced problem as she is yet to understand what kind of fever she was suffering from.

"I had cough, fever and chest pain too .It started three days ago, and I already started the medication, but I do not know what type of fever is this," said Janki.

Dr. A.Fazeelathu Beevi, Medical Superintendent of a local hospital, confirmed the surge in the number of dengue patients.

"In our hospital the number of fever cases, are increasing and the total OP (out door patient) comes around 2500 and in patient, IP cases, comes around to 732. Today it is 732.And also the dengue cases, day before yesterday it was 13 now today it is 19 cases," said Dr. Beevi.

Climate change is also making more parts of the planet habitable for the dengue-spreading mosquito.

As a result, half the world's population is now exposed to the disease, mostly in the developing world - but also in parts of southern Europe and the southern United States.

The researchers estimated that 70 percent of the world's serious dengue cases were in Asia, with India alone accounting for 34 percent of the total.