Dengue Infections Drop, Ministry Urges Caution

THE number of people afflicted withdengue, a mosquito-borne disease thatinduces fever, pain and, in rare cases, hemorrhagingand death, dropped during thefirst months of this year by 25% comparedto last year, the Public Health Ministryreported, but urged caution nonetheless.“Don’t let down your guard,” the ministrywarned in a statement. “Continuetaking preventive actions to eliminate thenests of dengue-transmitting mosquitoes.”Between Jan. 1-March 5, the ministryreported 986 cases of dengue in the country,down from 1,316 reported in the sameperiod last year.Most of the cases, 595, have occurredon the Caribbean slope, followed by 239in the central Pacific and the rest distributedthroughout the north, south andPacific regions.