Cambodia reported about 7,000 dengue fever cases in the first half of 2025, similar to the number of cases during the same period last year, a health official said on Thursday.

However, the death toll from the disease dropped to 15 during the January-June period this year from 23 in the same period last year, said Huy Rekol, director of the National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control.

"All the patients who died so far this year were children," he told Xinhua. "The deaths occurred because the parents or legal guardians had sent their sick children to the hospital late."

He said parents or legal guardians should take their sick children to health centers or state hospitals within 48 hours if they suspect their children are infected with the dengue virus.

Rekol also appealed to households to fill in puddles around their houses, saying that they are sources of mosquitoes.

Dengue fever is a viral disease transmitted through the bite of an Aedes mosquito, which is a day-biting mosquito. The disease causes an acute illness that usually follows symptoms such as headache, high fever of up to 40 degrees Celsius, exhaustion, severe muscle and joint pain, swollen glands, vomiting and rash.

In the Southeast Asian country, the peak of the dengue epidemic period is in the rainy season from May to October.

Xinhua