An increased incidence of dengue and hand-foot-and-mouth disease was recorded across Ho Chi Minh City as they are at their peaks of the year, Nguyen Tri Dung, Director of the city’s Preventive Medicine Centre, said on November 5.

As many as 3,150 dengue cases were reported in the city in the first nine months 2014, including five deaths – one case higher than a year earlier.

In October alone, there were 1,074 new suspect cases with no deaths, he noted, adding that the number of dengue patients rises during the rainy season which usually ends in late November.

Meanwhile, HCM City recorded 5,382 hand-foot-mouth cases with one death during the first nine months and 1,125 suspect cases in October, a year-on-year increase of 59 percent.

The incidence of this disease is currently 20 percent higher than that in the same period last year, Dung said.

From now to the year’s end, the city will conduct epidemiological surveys to have specific assessments of the disease situations in each locality and take appropriate preventive measures.

The health sector is also enhancing communication campaigns to raise public awareness of the issue, especially in vulnerable areas, he added.-VNA