Outbreak of dengue fever, 14 people died

Compared to the same period last year, the number of dengue cases has tripled, 14 people have died, concentrated in some localities, especially in 4 provinces in the Central Highlands.

Statistics from the Ministry of Health, in July the country recorded 5,561 dengue cases, 2 deaths. Since the beginning of the year, nearly 45,000 people have dengue fever in 46 provinces and cities, 14 deaths, while the same period last year was just over 17,000 cases.

In recent weeks, epidemic outbreaks have been strong in some provinces, especially the 4 Central Highlands provinces of Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Gia Lai, Kon Tum and some provinces in the South and the Central such as An Giang, Dong Thap and TP. HCM, Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, Binh Dinh. The Ministry of Health established 8 missions to inspect, supervise and direct the prevention of dengue fever.

According to Dr. Tran Dac Phu, Director of Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Health, the cause of the increase is because these places are in the rainy season. The same period last year, the epidemic also began to increase, reaching its peak in the last months of the year and then gradually decreasing and the translation continued to extend into the first months of this year.

Clean water containers without lids are ideal for mosquitoes to lay eggs.(Photo of the working group of the Ministry of Health in Gia Lai: Vncdc).

This year the El nino phenomenon occurs in Vietnam, increasing the average temperature of the environment. This is the condition for mosquitoes to grow. El nino also causes widespread droughts, households increase water storage in water containers to facilitate mosquitoes to lay eggs.

The Central Highlands region is not the most prevalent dengue circulating region in recent years, so the immune system of the population is low. So when the epidemic appears, it will spread and flare up quickly. The majority of people are ethnic minorities and intellectuals are still low, not actively implementing measures to prevent and control epidemics. Some families signed a pledge to prevent epidemics but then all 12 people got sick.

Actual inspection in this area, the working group of the Ministry of Health found that many households still use uncontrolled domestic water tools / tanks, many tires (shells) of old agricultural vehicles are no longer used. gardening, bottles, jars and miscellaneous objects containing stagnant water are not treated. These are places where mosquitoes spawn, many streaks and larvae develop.

According to the announcement of the World Health Organization, in 2016, dengue situation continues to be complicated and increase in many countries in Asia - Pacific and Latin America.

In the Asia-Pacific region, on June 11, the Philippines recorded more than 52,000 cases, 207 deaths, an increase of 41% compared to the same period in 2015. Malaysia also recorded nearly 60,000 cases, 134 people died.