The number of dengue fever cases has risen sharply in northern Vietnam, especially in Hanoi, with 500-700 cases reported each week, a 10- to 12-fold year-on-year rise, said Head of the Health Ministry’s Preventive Health and Environment Department Nguyen Huy Nga.

At present, there are more than 57,000 patients, a year-on-year increase of approximately 13 percent, 44 of whom have died, a year-on-year drop of 10 percent, he added.

Hanoi, which was declared free of the epidemic for many years, was hit hard by the mosquito-born disease due to increases in construction activities and population density, Nga told the Vietnam News Agency reporters.

The ministry is continuing to spray chemicals to kill the mosquitoes and mosquito larva, and increase public awareness to prevent and control dengue fever and clean up the environment.

According to the World Health Organisation, dengue is spreading in many countries worldwide but there is currently no inoculation for the disease. Each year, world-wide, about 20 million people contract dengue and around 500,000 are hospitalised. Around 5 percent of the world’s children aged 1-15 die of the disease each year./.