With rainy weather approaching, dengue fever is entering its peak season, the Ministry of Health said September 14.

Dengue fever kids are being treated in the emergency room in the Pediatrics Hospital in the Mekong delta province of Can Tho (Photo: Thanh nien)

Over 44,571 people have been infected this year, with 37 fatalities, nearly 30 percent higher than in the same period last year.

Medical workers are worried about the large number of patients in the capital Hanoi.

Eleven people in the Mekong delta provinces of Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, and Tra Vinh died of the disease, with Soc Trang along accounting for deaths out of more than 4,000 people affected.

Dr. Le Minh Thuan, director of the Dam Doi- Ca Mau Medical Center in the southern province of Ca Mau, said in the last eight months, hospitals and health centers have treated nearly 450 cases of whom 122 were seriously affected.