HANOI, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has so far this year detected nearly 88,000 dengue fever patients, of whom six have died, compared with over 28,000 infections, including eight fatalities in the same period last year, according to the country's Preventive Health Department on Friday.

The six people who died between early January and mid-July came from Ho Chi Minh City, two southern provinces of Tien Giang and Binh Phuoc, and three central provinces of Quang Binh, Khanh Hoa and Binh Thuan.

In the capital city of Hanoi, dengue fever infections have increased in recent weeks, with nearly 180 cases being spotted a week, the department said.

Most of the dengue fever patients live in the country's southern region where weather conditions and local people's habit of storing rainwater in containers for domestic use create favorable conditions for the development of mosquitoes, the disease's transmitter, local epidemiologists said.

In March, Vietnam established a satellite-based dengue forecasting system which uses a combination of satellite information, weather forecasting and historical data on previous outbreaks to create an early warning system, up to eight months in advance, for potential epidemics.

Through the system, local communities receive direction on where to focus their efforts to reduce mosquito-breeding sites to prevent outbreaks of dengue.