By the normal pattern, the infectious diseases epidemic currently gripping the State should have shown a downward trend by now.
However, much to the concern of the Health Department, on an average, at least nine to ten people seem to be dying in the State on a daily basis following fever and related illnesses.
On Tuesday, nine deaths were reported from across the State following viral fever and dengue.
Five persons were suspected to have died of dengue, one each in Alappuzha, Thrissur and Malappuram and two in Thiruvananthapuram, including a two-year-old. One dengue death was confirmed in Thiruvananthapuram.
One person was reported dead from Malappuram following fever.
Leptospirosis death
Palakkad reported a leptospirosis death, while in Pathanamthitta, a six-year-old succumbed to H1N1.
A total of 25,827 persons sought treatment for viral fever in various government hospitals on Tuesday. The number of confirmed dengue cases reported on Tuesday was 243.
These included 115 cases from Thiruvananthapuram, 46 from Kollam and 15 cases each from Alappuzha, Thrissur, and Wayanad and 10 from Kozhikode.
Six cases of leptospirosis and eight cases of malaria -- including two indigenous cases at Nadakkavu, Kozhikode -- were also reported.
Confirmed dengue cases
The confirmed dengue cases reported in the State so far this year now stands at 12,036 and dengue deaths, 22. As many as 44,071 cases are charted as probable dengue and another 137 deaths are suspected to be due to dengue fever.