Dengue outbreaks occurred in 20 cities and provinces in the South Vietnam in the first eight months of the year, claiming 13 lives and infecting 31,000 people, reported Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City .
The figure showed an increase of 76 percent compared to the same period last year. It was announced at an inter-department seminar on dengue prevention supervision in the South held by the education and health sectors in Bao Loc, a city in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong.
Head of Pasteur Institute Pham Trong Lan said that dengue cases are escalating quickly in Ho Chi Minh City, the southern provinces of Binh Phuoc, Binh Duong, Ben Tre and Lam Dong. Currently, the disease in above-mentioned provinces showed an increase and it could be an epidemic.
He noted that because there has been no vaccine against dengue, the best way to prevent it is killing mosquitoes and its larva. Locality authorities should spray chemical to kill the insect, increase information of the disease’s danger to residents and clear waste items, collect wasted containers where is suitable for mosquitoes laying its eggs into, dredging canals and sewage to curb the disease.
