Agostinha Segurado, the director of health services in Dili, the most affected municipality in the country, told the Independente that 672 people, many of them children aged under 5, had contracted the virus, raising fears that the capital city is in the midst if its worst dengue outbreak in years.  

The eight deaths were young children living in Dili.

“The patients were brought to Dili National Hospital too late, we couldn’t save them,” Segurado said.

Segurado urged parents to seek proper medical help at the onset of virus, saying the children may have been saved if they were treated before condition worsened.  

While most mosquito-borne dengue cases are mild, severe cases can require hospitalisation.

This year’s spike in dengue cases is connected with the wetter rainy season, which has increased the number of breeding spots for the mosquito that carries the dengue virus.

Authorities in Dili are calling on the public to check households for water logging, and to remove items such as rubbish where water can sit.