YANGON, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Four people have died of dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) in southeastern Mon state in Myanmar where over 1,200 cases were registered since January this year, the official Global New Light of Myanmar reported Monday.

The DHF infected 10 townships in the state with Mawlamyine and Mudon recording over 200 DHF cases, followed by Paung, Thanbyuzayat, Ye and Kyaikmaraw townships.

The four victims included an eight-month-old infant in Paung township, a 15-year-old child in Thaton township, a nine-year-old child in Thanbyuzayat township and a four-year-old child in Ye township.

However, the outbreak rate of DHF dropped by half overall in the first eight months of this year as of Aug. 4 compared with the same period of last year.

During the period, 11,750 people were infected with the DHF. Of them, there were 59 fatalities against more than 100 correspondingly last year, said the Ministry of Health and Sports.

DHF, which mainly affects children under 15 years old, occurred mostly in Ayayawaddy and Yangon regions and Mon state and the disease is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito and was common only in the rainy season previously, but it has occurred throughout the year.

Statistics showed that in 2017, more than 31,000 people were infected with the mosquito-borne disease across the country. Of them, there were 192 fatalities with 27 being above 17 years old.

Overcrowding, lack of sanitation, unhygienic water storage are blamed for causing the outbreak.?