Patients with dengue treated at the Hospital of Obstetrics Gynecology and Pediatrics in the southern province of An Giang (Photo: VNA)HCM City (VNS/VNA) – The season is peaking, with a sharp rise in
incidence of the in Ho Chi Minh City, the Mekong
Delta and the south-east, according to preventive medicine centres.
The number of cases
in HCM City last month was 7,833, up 18 percent from July, the HCM
City Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said.
In the first eight
months of the year, the number of cases was up 142 percent year-on-year
to 39,814.
More than 900
potential have been identified in many districts,
but most of them in the outlying districts of Hoc Mon and Binh Chanh.
An upsurge has also
been reported in the Mekong Delta, where there have been eight
deaths due to the disease this year.
The Can Tho City
Paediatrics Hospital has treated 876 patients this year, 43 percent higher
year-on-year than in 2018. The last three months saw a sharp rise to 335.
The number of people
hospitalised with dengue has been on an upward trend, and there have been many
severe cases, said Bui Hung Viet, head of the hospital’s dengue
fever department.
Poor public awareness
of the serious complications caused by dengue and prevention measures remains a
big challenge, he said.
Many people
think that only young children get the disease and that they become
immune if they get it once, he said.
In Tien Giang province,
there have been 2,400 cases this year, up 163 percent, with two deaths.
In Dong Thap, the
number rose by 71 percent in the first six months to more than 1,350 cases
again with two people dying.
As of September 16, the
south-eastern province of Binh Phuoc had reported more than 6,000 cases and
three deaths.
The south central
province of Binh Thuan is one of the 15
worst affected localities, according to its Preventive Medicine Centre.
The number has risen
five-fold this year to nearly 2,900, and there has been one death.
Nguyen Tri Dung, Director
of the HCM City Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said the city has
stepped up efforts to fight the disease with a focus on spraying chemicals to
kill mosquitoes, eliminating potential habitats and raising public awareness of
.
But spraying
chemicals is recommended only in emergency situations for rapid destruction of
the adult vector population, according to the centre.
Dengue prevention and
control is the responsibility of individuals, it said.
The key is to
eliminate unnecessary container habitats that collect water in households and
workplaces./.
Source: VietnamPlus
