Dengue fever outbreak plagues Mekong Delta region

HCM CITY — Dengue fever is on the rise in the Mekong River Delta as the rainy season continues, according to health officials.
Over the last two months, more than 10,000 dengue fever cases were reported in the region, including two fatalities.
In Dong Thap Province, 2,000 people are currently suffering from dengue fever.
The emergency division of Tam Nong District’s hospital has received 157 dengue fever patients since the beginning of the rainy season.
Nguyen Kim Thinh, deputy director of Tam Nong District’s Preventive Medicine Centre, said the number of dengue fever patients had increased severalfold compared with the same period last year.
Thinh said there were also some serious cases that needed to be tranferred to city-level hospitals for treatment.
Most patients under treatment at the district’s hospital were children under 15 years old.
She attributed the growing dengue fever cases to the public’s lack of awareness about preventing the disease.
The health sector in the Mekong River Delta is strongly advocating preventive measures, including the spraying of mosquito repellents in densely populated districts and waterlogged areas in communes.
Local health workers have been sent to rural areas to disseminate information on sanitation methods, dredging of canals and culverts, and the use of mosquito nets.
In Tien Giang and An Giang provinces, 2,000 people have been struck by dengue fever.
The director of Tien Giang Province’s General Hospital, Hoang Tho Man, said the Mekong Delta this year was facing a high risk of a widespread outbreak of dengue fever.
He aslo called for prompt measures to effectively fight and prevent an epidemic in the rainy season.
Dengue fever patients whose high fever has not abated within a day should go to a hospital and not stay at home, health officials said. — VNS