For the past week, Ho Chi Minh City recorded 121 cases of dengue, higher more than the previous week with 116 cases.
Though the number of dengue cases from the beginning of the year declined 70 percent compared to the same period last year but the city has reported four small outbreaks in three districts.
The city health sector has examined cases of dengue and identified the outbreaks to have correct handling.
With the rainy season approaching, the city and the southern region enter dengue season. The health sector warned people to proactive measures or else outbreaks can occur.
Fortnightly, Mrs. Do Thi Minh in Tan Phu District had a fever and she self-medicated but her fever did not abate. She came to local medical clinic where doctors diagnosed that she had slight dengue; therefore, they gave her medications.
She now recovers from the disease. Her awareness of the disease has been raised. Before, she has refused medical workers to spray her house for fearing the chemical will affect her grandchildren but she actively invited medical workers to disinfect her house. Moreover, she has disposed of unwanted containers where water may gather into a covered bin.
Head of a medical clinic in Tan Quy Ward Dr. Lam Phuoc Tri said that most of patients in the ward are immigrant laborers; hence, it is difficult to identify where outbreaks are. He added that the city health sector should not neglect dengue while focusing on Covid-19. Medical workers will talk about dengue while disseminating information of Covid-19.
In Cau Xeo Street in Tan Quy ward, medical worker Nguyen Thi Chau Suong was guiding a construction contractor to sprinkle motor oil in water container in the construction site to kill larva. Guidance of how to kill larva is one of contents of the ward’s plan against dengue.
According to medical worker Suong, construction sites could become mosquito breeding grounds; therefore, medical workers ought to pay regular visits to construction sites for supervision.
In the wake of Covid-19, residents in the ward seemed to neglect the dengue which will break out in upcoming rain season; medical workers accordingly disseminated information of the disease to raise people’s awareness of the disease.
Head of Center for Disease Control in Cu Chi District Dr. Ho Thanh Phong said that it is difficult to remove scrap dumping grounds and construction sites which have turned into a breeding ground for mosquitoes that poses a threat to residents and the environment. Along with dissemination of Covid-19, the health sector in the district encouraged people to eradicate scrap dumping grounds.
Head of the city Center for Disease Control Dr. Le Hong Nga said that strategies to monitor at-risk places in dengue control has been implemented effectively for ten years; accordingly, the health authorities have called each family and each household to check whether there is water gathering in the trays and in the drainage system, and remove any stagnant water.
