Dengue Fever Runs Riot in the South

04 Oct 2007 - Ho Chi Minh City has seen an unprecedented number of dengue fever deaths this year and the government agencies must do more to get the epidemic under control, Dr. Le Hoang San from the HCMC Pasteur Institute warned yesterday.

Already this year the disease has struck 61,632 people in southern Vietnam, which is 50 percent more than last year, and killed 56, an increase of 40 percent.

Dr. Le Bich Lien, who heads the Department of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever at Children’s Hospital No. 1, said the disease was spreading and showing no sign of easing up. Moreover, this year the transmitted virus is usually type D1 or D2.

The disease is changing in a complex way, especially in Ho Chi Minh City, where people still store water in open buckets and pots, observed Dr. San.

Local officials must marshal their resources to control the epidemic, publicize the latest news on the disease’s development, and bring in drastic measures to counter the rising death toll, another health official said.

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By Kim Lien – Translated by Khanh Hong
SGGP English Edition