Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on October 26 issued instructions on measures to be taken promptly against dengue fever in the wake of a surge in infections from the disease which is likely to evolve into a large-scale outbreak.

The PM required the entire political system and the mass media to focus on raising the people’s awareness on the potentially fatal disease by disseminating both information and preventive measures.

He asked the Health Ministry to closely monitor the development of the disease and promptly assist local authorities in carrying out preventive measures, which has the potential to spread rapidly over a wide area. He also asked that mobile emergency teams be set up to assist grassroots-level health clinics in case of need.

He went on to request that the ministries of information and communication, education and training, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, mass organisations and press agencies join hands in the fight against the disease.

Localities nationwide have reported 72,155 dengue fever cases so far this year--a 7.1 percent rise from the same period last year. The disease took the lives of 58 people.

The north suffered a 4.6 fold rise in infections from the disease, which has already seen outbreaks in Hanoi , the central city of Da Nang , the central provinces of Binh Dinh and Phu Yen, the Mekong delta provinces of Kien Giang and Tra Vinh, and Ho Chi Minh City./.