The rainy season’s intense heat and humidity together with poor sanitation and loose control of disease-prone locations lie at the root of epidemic outbreaks during summers, Director Tran Dac Phu from the Department of Preventative Medicine revealed at a workshop held in Ho Chi Minh City on May 15.

Quarantine activities currently face a number of difficulties due to convenient transport; some diseases can spread to neighbouring areas within 2 hours, Phu said.

According to the department, from the months May to August from 2010-2014, the most common infection was influenza with 400,000 cases recorded, followed by diarrhoea with 252,240 cases.

Most summer diseases are transmitted through breathing, eating, drinking and touching hands, all common occurrences during the hot period of the year as more people concentrate at public areas and tourism is at its peak, fostering outbreaks.-VNA