Children gather to look at a model of a mosquito, which sits on top of a vehicle used by workers spraying insecticide to fight an onset of dengue fever, in the outskirts of Phnom Penh, July 3, 2007.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

    BANGKOK, July 7 (Xinhua) -- More than 21,000 patients suffering from dengue fever have been treated in Thailand during the first half of this year, including 17 persons dying from the rainy season disease, a senior public health ministry official said Saturday. 

    Bureau of Vector-Borne Diseases director Wichai Satimai said a total of 21,251 dengue fever patients were identified during the first six months of 2007, representing a 36 percent increase from the corresponding period of last year.

    Seventeen Thai victims died during the period. The sharp increase in the number of patients during the period was attributed to the early onset of the rainy season in Thailand, causing the quick breeding of dengue-carrying striped mosquitoes, said Wichai.

    The incidence of dengue has been significantly on the rise in other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries including Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Singapore, during the period, he added.

    Earlier this week Cambodia reported 132 deaths from dengue fever in June alone, and asked for Thailand's medical assistance, which is being extended.