Honduras confirms 27 deaths from dengue fever

A Honduran dengue fever epidemic has killed 27 people so far this year and infected some 31,960 individuals, health officials said. A total of 18 men and nine women have died in one of the country's worst bout of the disease in terms of fatalities, according to Bredy Lara, director of surveillance for the health ministry. Dengue, transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, occurs in Central America mostly during its rainy season from May to November. The disease causes fever, muscle and joint ache as well as potentially fatal dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome. President Porfirio Lobo's government declared a nationwide emergency in July, when 16 people had died and more than 12,000 cases had been reported. He also launched a campaign to control mosquito reproduction sites. Last year, Honduras reported some 8,000 cases of dengue and two deaths, compared with no deaths in 2011. The worst recent year for dengue in Honduras was 2010, when 83 people died among some 66,000 reported cases and 3,000 instances of hemorrhagic fever, according to officials.