Jump in Dengue Fever Cases
Nearly 35,400 dengue fever cases were reported in Costa Rica from January to November, up 311 percent from the same period last year, the Ministry of Health said Monday.

It was the largest increase since 1993.

The reported cases were also 147 percent more than the largest yearly figure ever registered in Costa Rica - the 14,279 cases in 1997.

The ministry said 51 of the cases were  hemorrhagic fever, the most deadly version of the disease, which is attributed to the first two deaths of dengue fever in six years since the previous case in 1999.

However, the mosquito-borne disease's rate of spread was reduced by 68 percent in recent weeks to about 137 cases a week, thanks to a respite of heavy rains in the country.

Costa Rica kicked off a campaign in August, urging its people to eliminate possible breeding places for the mosquito Aedes Aegypti, the main transmission agent for dengue fever, which breeds in stagnant water.