According to the Ministry’s Department of Preventive Medicine, since the beginning of the year, the country has recorded nearly 60,000 dengue infection cases including 17 deaths , a year-on-year hospitalization increase of over 12.5 percent and death rate rise by 3 cases.
The disease outbreaks occurred in 61/63 cities and provinces with 26 localities having increased number of infections compared to same period last year. 10 cities and provinces with most infection cases are Hanoi, HCMC, the southern provinces Binh Duong, Dong Nai, An Giang, Dong Thap, Soc Trang, Long An and the central provinces of KHanh Hoa and Da Nang.
Medical experts said that summer comes early in the North while rainy season comes early in the South, unpredictable weather is conducive for mosquito development and people’s low awareness and local government’s neglected behavior to the disease lead to more dengue outbreaks.
Worse, people don’t let medical workers to spray chemicals to kill the insect. In Hanoi, over 20 percent of people locked the door while medical workers sprayed disinfectant meanwhile 5 percent households disagreed to spray the chemical.
The Ministry warned in the last months of the year, the disease will develop complicatedly because it is peak season of the disease and hot weather will prolong in the year.
The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology announced test results showed that virus type of dengue in the North is D1 while it is type D2 in the South. There has been no virus gene mutation yet it warned more outbreaks will occur in the next time without drastic measures.
Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien stressed health sector must instruct residents preventive measures against dengue. Last time, health sector has just increased information of infection cases and death but this time, it should focus on prevention task to help people understand more about danger of the disease.
She also asked infirmaries to expand its facilities to receive patients and fight against patient overload.
