Kolkata, Sep 10 : Dengue seems to be taking a serious turn in West Bengal, especially in the rural pockets of the state, with every passing day as the number of affected people crossed the 15,000 mark by Sunday afternoon. As per state Health Department figures, the total number of affected people in the current season so far has been reported at 15,272, out of which 10,321 have been reported from rural pockets, while the remaining 4,951 are from urban areas. The maximum number of cases has been reported from North 24 Parganas district followed by Nadia. The total number of dengue- related deaths reported from the state is 24. The latest death case was reported on Sunday evening from South Dum Dum in North 24 Parganas district and the victim, Pritam Bhowmik, was identified as of the state police. State Health Department sources said that without proper awareness in the local people, the menace of the spread of dengue cannot be stopped by administrative initiatives alone. "Despite regular awareness programmes conducted by the different administrative units, people have continued allowing accumulated water within their residences or within the housing complexes," a state government official said. The opposition parties have accused the state government of understating the number of affected and dead people. They have alleged that often dengue- related deaths are referred as "deaths due to unknown fever". /IANS