This article was written by John LeFevre

Thailand’s Public Health Minister, Wicharn Meenchainant, has warned residents and visitors alike to remain vigilant to the dangers of day time mosquito bites with more than 41,000 cases and 48 reported deaths from dengue fever so far this year.

According to the Disease Control Department’s Bureau of Epidemiology, Bangkok has suffered the most cases with 3,763 reports, followed by Ratchaburi with 1,710, Nakhon Sawan with 1,582, Phetchabun with 1,304 and Rayong with 1,291

Wichan said the risk of catching dengue fever from mosquitoes this year was high compared to last year, which saw 29 fatalities out of 60,000 cases.

This year’s seasonal epidemic is blamed on type 2, while last year type 1 was virulent.

Permanent secretary Prat Bunyawongwiroj said type 2 was more dangerous to humans as it was more resistant to the immune system.

People could hypothetically get infected by each of the four dengue strains separately in their lifetime.

To combat the rising number of cases Wichan has ordered provincial public health offices to strictly control and monitor the transmission of dengue fever in local areas.

Local authorities have been instructed to spray insecticide to eradicate the adult Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is active from sunrise to sunset.

Residents have also been told to drain off any stagnant water to prevent mosquitoes from breeding and use abates sand, a pesticide, to destroy their larvae.