The number of recorded dengue fever infections in Cambodia dropped dramatically in the first half of 2017 when compared to the same period the year before, a health official has said, with deaths due to the virus also dropping.

The number of dengue infections in the first 24 weeks of the year dropped to 1,133, compared to the 2,447 in the same period in 2016, according to a statement on the website of the National Centre for Parasitology Entomology and Malaria Control from director Huy Rekol.

Spikes and falls of dengue rates tend to follow a predictable cycle, with 2015 and 2016 experiencing higher-than-usual rates.

Rekol declined to comment further but was quoted as saying that the centre was preparing to hand out 5,000 litres of mosquito repellent and 350 tonnes of larvicide to highly affected areas such as Phnom Penh, Kandal, Siem Reap and Koh Kong provinces.

It would also hand out about 50,000 packets of “serum” drips to help treat the infected, but it did not say how the products would be distributed. Those most at risk of infections were aged 5 to 9, the centre said.