Dengue cases fell for the third consecutive week, with 397 new cases of people being infected with the mosquito-borne virus being reported in the week ending March 12.

This was 15 cases fewer than the previous week, according to the latest figures put up on the National Environment Agency's (NEA) website. Another 68 cases were reported from Sunday to Monday, while there have been 5,351 cases since the start of the year.

As of Monday, the number of active dengue clusters - where at least two cases were reported within 150m of each other in a fortnight - had also dropped to 98.

Of these, 18 were considered high-risk areas.

The largest, with 73 cases, was located in the Serangoon North area.

Last Thursday, a 63-year-old woman who lived in Bedok North Street 3 became the third person this year to die after coming down with dengue. The authorities said her home was not located within an active dengue cluster.

The other two casualties were a 67-year-old man who lived in Toa Payoh, and a 47-year-old man from Marsiling Rise.

All-out efforts to stem the spread of the virus have been ongoing in recent weeks, with NEA announcing last month that it was stepping up its anti-dengue campaign.

The new measures included a $200 fine for homeowners found to be breeding mosquitoes at home, regardless of whether they were living in an active dengue cluster or not.

The agency had previously warned that dengue cases could hit a historic high of 30,000, surpassing the previous record of 22,170 in 2013.

Lee Min Kok