Southern provinces on alert for dengue fever

A doctor from Can Tho Children Hospital examining a child diagnosed with dengue fever on Tuesday. The Ministry of Health has called on southern provinces to remain vigilant for dengue fever outbreaks and step up mosquito eradication programs.

“All 20 southern provinces have to find effective and strong ways to fight dengue fever in September,” Deputy Minister of Health Trinh Quan Huan told a meeting in Soc Trang Province Thursday. “Many dengue fever outbreaks were forecast for this year,” he said, adding that most cases reported so far this year had occurred in southern provinces. Huan hailed a Can Tho City campaign that raises awareness among teachers and students of the need to destroying mosquito larvae, saying other provinces should follow suit. The Ministry of Health allocated extra funds to southern provinces to help contain dengue fever outbreaks in the coming months. Teams from the Ministry of Health’s Administration of Preventive Medicine earlier this month visited the provinces of Ca Mau, Binh Phuoc and Binh Duong, the areas considered most vulnerable to outbreaks of dengue fever. The health officials found an alarming increase in the number of dengue fever cases so far this year. Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ca Mau Province, Trinh Minh Thanh, said there had been more than 4,500 dengue fever patients in the province this year and seven fatalities from the mosquito-borne disease. According to a report from the Pasteur Institute in HCMC, more than 37,000 people in southern provinces have been infected with dengue fever so far this year. Thirty-eight have died. “We are at a critical stage because the dengue fever epidemics often peak between September and November,” Pasteur Institute chief Tran Ngoc Huu said. Reported by Quang Minh Nhat