The number of people who have contracted the non-lethal, classic dengue fever so far this year, totals 39,613, and approximately 1,099 people have been infected with hemorrhagic dengue, of whom 55 have died.

The Health Ministry’s National Dengue Certification Commission spokesperson said that although there has been a high incidence of deaths from hemorrhagic dengue, the number of people with the illness is decreasing.

The director of the Teaching Hospital in Tegucigalpa, Marco Molinero, said that last week there was a slight drop in the number of infected patients, and said that the campaign against the breeding grounds of the mosquito that carries the fatal disease should be made permanent.

President Porfirio Lobo’s government launched a national campaign last month in an attempt to stop dengue from spreading. The public health authorities believe that the constant rains are an adverse factor in the campaign against dengue, which in 2009, caused the deaths of 12 people who were infected with the hemorrhagic form of the disease.

According to public health records for 2009, some 438 people contracted hemorrhagic dengue, while the classic type affected close to 13,000