RIO DE JANEIRO, May 27 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from dengue fever has reached 53 in Brazil's northeastern Bahia state this year, the state's Health Secretariat said on Wednesday.

    According to the secretariat, it is the highest death toll since it became mandatory to report dengue cases in 1995. Over half of the dead were under 15 years old.

    The number of confirmed dengue fever cases in the state surpassed 73,600 as of May 16, up 173 percent from the same period last year, the secretariat said.

    Most of the dengue fever cases are reported in six municipalities in Bahia's southern region, it added.

    Despite the rise in Bahia, the number of dengue fever cases in Brazil has fallen 49 percent from January to mid-May, according to a recent report released by the country's health ministry.

    Common in tropical climates, dengue fever is transmitted by the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Its main symptoms are high fever, body and headaches, tiredness and nausea.

    Dengue fever epidemics are quite common in Brazil. Last year, there were some 250,000 cases in Rio de Janeiro state with 174 deaths.