A total of 39 people have died from dengue of the 16 thousand 700 positive cases that the authorities have detected so far this year throughout the national territory.

The information was offered this Saturday in Santiago by the Minister of Public Health, Rafael Sánchez Cárdenas, who indicated that they are attending an average of 400 cases of the disease per week.

Sánchez Cárdenas explained the statistics are well below the latest epidemic that affected the Dominican Republic in 2015 when there were 103 deaths recorded.

He said that the big problem they face around dengue is that in many cases, doctors are not applying the established protocols and norms to suspicious circumstances.

“That is a concern we have,” said Sánchez Cárdenas.

In the interest of preventing a dengue outbreak, the official explained a preventive day is being carried out to control the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits the disease.

Sánchez Cárdenas spoke about the subject after leading the graduation ceremony of 24 medical professionals of the “Course of principles and practices in clinical research, PPCR,” sponsored by the Ministry of Public Health at Harvard University in Massachusetts, United States. The event took place at the Century Plaza hotel in this city.