Vietnamplus

Vietnam has seen a surge in dengue fever with about 71,000 cases recorded in the first half of 2019, rising more than three-fold year on year, according to the Ministry of Health.

Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health has introduced a new mosquito killing device that can kill 1 million mosquitoes in four weeks.

The Lao Ministry of Health has advised people across the country to clear potential mosquito breeding sites as the current outbreak of dengue fever has claimed 27 lives and more than 11,000 people have contracted the virus so far this year.

Ho Chi Minh City recorded five deaths due to dengue fever in the first six months of 2019, announced the municipal Preventive Medicine Centre on July 8.

Head of Singapore’s National Environment Agency's (NEA) Chew Ming Fai has warned that the dengue problem in the country will get worse before it gets better, as the coming dry, hot months are prime breeding season for the dengue-spreading mosquito.​

Hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City are seeing more patients with dengue fever one month before the peak season for the disease.

Over 67,000 cases of dengue fever and three deaths were reported in the first five months of this year across the country, according to the latest report from the Ministry of Health.

Disease prevention and control is the main duty of the health sector this year, thus the sector will actively conduct preventive measures and provide vaccinations in high-risk areas.

Hanoi recorded 1,193 cases of measles since the beginning of this year, however, there has been no death from this disease, according to the city's health authorities.

Mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue are prevalent in Vietnam. The first outbreak of dengue was recorded in Vietnam in 1963. Between 1998 and 2010 more than 1 million cases were reported.

Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Health on May 11 launched a campaign on preventing and combating dengue fever in response to ASEAN Dengue Day (June 15).

Some 6,000 children are still living in makeshift shelters six months after a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Indonesia’s Palu city.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam urged medical facilities nationwide to step up preventive health care services and ensure adequate vaccines to prevent the spread of epidemics such as measles and dengue fever.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and HR Wallingford company on March 19 launched a pioneering dengue forecasting system in Vietnam, hoping to curb the spread of this disease in the country.

New cases of communicable diseases in Ho Chi Minh City have gradually declined, but the figure stayed at a high level, said the municipal Preventive Medicine Centre.

The number of dengue fever cases in Ho Chi Minh City in the first seven weeks of 2019 surged by nearly 250 percent over the same period last year, reported the city’s Preventive Medicine Centre.

A total of 114 cases of measles were recorded in the capital city of Hanoi since the start of 2019, the municipal Health Department reported.

Health experts are advising people to take precautions to prevent epidemics and diseases that frequently occur in the first three months of the year during the humid weather and crowded festivals, said Tran Dac Phu, head of the Ministry of Health’s Department of Preventive Medicine.

The number of dengue fever cases in Ho Chi Minh City shot up by 125 percent in October compared to a year earlier and could rise further this month, the peak season, the Preventive Health Centre has warned.

Health experts have urged parents to have their babies fully vaccinated in order to create a barrier of immunisation for the whole community as several infectious diseases are raging across the country.