Hand-foot-mouth disease and dengue fever are on the rise, with more and more people contracting the diseases each month, as seen by evaluations made by the Ministry of Health and the General Statistics Office.

The ministry and the office have evaluated the status of infectious diseases in August in the first eight months of the year.

Figures showed that of the infectious diseases, the hand-foot-mouth disease and dengue fever have affected the most number of people and claimed more lives than any other disease.

So far this year, the country has reported more than 32,600 hand-foot-mouth patients with 82 fatalities, while over 31,000 people contracted dengue fever with 27 reported fatalities. 

This August alone, around 8,200 fresh cases of dengue fever were reported across the country.

Other highly infectious diseases have also been on the rise, such as hepatitis, affecting 911,000 people; encephalitis affecting 165 people; typhoid, affecting 184 people and H1N1, affecting 87 people, based on figures reported from across the country.

Food poisoning cases are also on the rise, and food safety has become a matter of grave concern in the country as more cases are reported randomly and across the country. So far 75 food poisoning cases have been reported that also claimed nine lives.