A seven-year-old boy died due to dengue in Delhi on Tuesday, taking the nationwide death toll to 173, as 87 more people were afflicted with the mosquito-borne disease.

Seven-year-old Ravi Kumar, who was admittted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences, was being treated for dengue haemmoragic fever.

According to National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, 87 fresh cases of dengue were reported in the country till noon on Tuesday.

The government has confirmed 162 deaths due to dengue.

Last year, 157 people had succumbed to disease, while 11,985 had been affected.

In the national capital, 37 new cases were detected, taking the total number of people affected with deadly dengue to 2950, while 65 deaths have been reported.

According to P L Joshi, the director of the programme, dengue is showing signs of decline.

Joshi said the temperature has to dip below 16 degree Celsius for the dengue-carrying mosquitoes to die a natural death.

Death toll due to dengue in other places was 20 in Maharashtra, 16 in Andhra Pradesh, 14 in Uttar Pradesh and 17 in Rajasthan, seven each in Karnataka and West Bengal, five each in Punjab and Kerala [Images], three in Gujarat and two each in Haryana and Tamil Nadu.

Among the people affected by the virus, 1224 are in Rajasthan, 880 in Kerala, 905 in West Bengal, 931 in Punjab, 582 in Maharashtra, 480 in Gujarat, 409 in Haryana, 328 in Tamil Nadu, 132 in Andhra Pradesh, 108 in Chandigarh and 92 in Karnataka.