Nguyen Dac Tho, deputy director of the Municipal Department of Preventive Health informed on July 6 that last month two children had died of dengue fever and more than 887 cases were reported.
Since the beginning of this year, the total number of dengue cases in Ho Chi Minh City has gone up to 4,715, as against approx. 2,300 cases in the same period last year.
Not just suburban districts but also districts 1, 3 and Binh Thanh have reported dengue fever cases. On the other hand, hand-foot-mouth disease is showing no signs of abating with 4,770 reported cases and 17 deaths since the beginning of the year.
Responding to a dire situation, the Department of Health in HCMC has ordered district authorities and medical clinics to raise awareness in residents and distribute disinfectant chemicals to households to sanitize their homes, toys and other items and clean their surrounding environment.
The department issued 500,000 flyer leaflets to the public in July against hand-foot-mouth disease and distributed Chloramine B disinfectant to community health centers.
