(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-20 10:35

RIO DE JANEIRO - The city of Rio de Janeiro registered 1,100 new cases of dengue fever between March 17 and 18, Brazilian media reported Wednesday.

Till then, 269 cases of the disease had been identified in the city since January 20.

On Monday, authorities said the overall number of deaths caused by the fever increased from 20 to 29, including 17 patients aged under 15.

However, the city government denied that Rio was experiencing an epidemic.

Mayor Cesar Maia told a local TV news program that the cases released in the press referred to a period "30 to 40 days ago," as the infection could only be confirmed through laboratory analysis.

According to Maia, the number of dengue fever cases was actually "in decline" at the moment.

In years when Rio experienced epidemics of the disease, like in 2002, the number of cases reached an average of 470 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The Municipal Secretariat of Health said it would increase the capacity of public hospitals to exclusively treat people suffering from the disease and would hire 900 professionals to help with their treatment.

Meanwhile, Rio's Physicians' Union denounced the municipal, state and federal governments, holding them responsible for the alleged epidemic.