Phnom Penh, Jan 4 (IANS): Cambodia reported 12,500 dengue fever cases in 2022, a significant increase from 1,811 in 2021, a health official said on Wednesday.

Leang Rithea, deputy director of the National Centre for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control at the Ministry of Health, said the rise of cases last year was connected to inclement weather, and heavy and intermittent rain throughout the year across the country.

"The disease claimed 19 children's lives in 2022, up from only eight deaths recorded in 2021," he told Xinhua news agency.

Despite the increase, the Southeast Asian nation had brought the situation under control by working with relevant stakeholders and local authorities, he added.

Dengue fever is a viral disease transmitted through the bite of an Aedes mosquito.

Rithea said the centre would continue distributing the anti-dengue mosquito larvicide Abate to households living in dengue fever-prone areas.

Dengue fever causes an acute illness that usually follows symptoms such as headache, high fever, exhaustion, severe muscle and joint pain, swollen glands, vomiting and rash.

In Cambodia, the peak of dengue epidemic period is in the rainy season from May to October.