A dengue fever patient reveives treatment at the medical centre of Pleiku city, the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam has seen a surge in denguefever with about 71,000 cases recorded in the first half of 2019, rising morethan three-fold year on year, according to the Ministry of Health.
Of the cases, nearly 50,000 were reported in 20provinces and cities in the southern region, 139 percent higher than in thesame period last year. They included six deaths.
Ho Chi Minh City had the biggest number ofdengue fever cases, almost 24,770, up 176 percent year on year.
Binh Phuoc province also witnessed a surge of142 percent in the patient number to more than 1,700. In An Giang, anothersouthern province, the number increased 28 percent to over 1,960.
The Central Highlands province of Dak Lak sawmore than 3,200 dengue fever cases in the six months, soaring seven-fold from ayear earlier.
Meanwhile, dengue fever has also shown signs ofspreading in Hanoi, which reported 820 cases during the reviewed period.
Notably, high numbers of patients have beenrecorded in western districts of the city, including 150 cases in Ha Dong, 88in Bac Tu Liem, 73 in Cau Giay, 69 in Dong Da and 65 in Nam Tu Liem.
Health experts attributed the outbreak partly tofrequent rains in the southern region since June, when dengue fever began tospread fast. They also pointed to the neglect of disease prevention and themigration of labourers from disease-hit areas, which altogether havefacilitated the spread of dengue fever.
Meanwhile, the weather condition in Hanoi thisweek, with temperatures from 26 to 37 degrees Celsius and many rains, is alsofavourable for the development of mosquitoes – the transmitter of dengue virus.The Hanoi Centre for Disease Control is implementing activities to deal withthe outbreak. –VNA
VNA
