Dengue fever a lesser concern this year in Cambodia

[Shiloh]

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_8487009.htm

Dengue fever a lesser concern this year in Cambodia
www.chinaview.cn 2008-07-04 08:45:49

PHNOM PENH, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Dengue, the mosquito-borne illness that claimed the lives of more than 400 Cambodian children, has proven to be less of a menace so far this year, English-Khmer language newspaper the Cambodian Daily said Friday.

From January through May 2008, Cambodia has seen 2,156 cases of the virus and 23 deaths, Ngan Chantha, national dengue program manager at Ministry of Health, told the paper.

That compares to 20,836 cases and 256 deaths in the same period of time last year, it added.

"Now, it is quite better if compared to last year," said Chantha.

While nearly every province was affected in 2007, this year's outbreaks have been more isolated, and cases have also been linked to a different strain of the virus, he said.

Chantha attributed this year's improved outlook to increased health awareness and prevention efforts after last year's epidemic, which was the worst in nearly a decade and led to some 40,000 cases overall in Cambodia.

[Treyfish]

Re: Dengue fever a lesser concern this year in Cambodia

<TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD class=contentheading width="100%">Reports of dengue fever plummet </TD><TD class=buttonheading align=right width="100%"> </TD><TD class=buttonheading align=right width="100%"> </TD><TD class=buttonheading align=right width="100%"> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left width="70%" colSpan=2>Written by Meas Sokchea </TD></TR><TR><TD class=createdate vAlign=top colSpan=2>Friday, 04 July 2008 </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2>

TRACEY SHELTON

Hospital wards were filled with children suffering from dengue fever in the first half of 2007, but a public education campaign about the mosquito-borne disease has helped cut the number of cases in the same period this year more than 90%.
Public education campaigns have contributed to a massive decline in the number of dengue fever cases in children this year, according to the National Dengue Program.

Dr. Ngan Chanta, deputy director of the National Malaria Center and the National Dengue Program, said that public education campaigns had made people more aware of the precautions needed to avoid being bitten by the mosquitoes that spread dengue.

In the first half of 2007, an epidemic year, the National Dengue Program counted 20,836 cases of pediatric dengue fever, including 256 deaths. In the first six months of 2008 the program saw just 1,811 cases and 23 fatalities.

The National Pediatrics Hospital reports a similar decline. The chief of the hospital's technical office, Dr. Vithyarith Mam, said the hospital admitted just 235 patients suffering from dengue in the first half of this year, and just two fatalities.

During the same period last year, the hospital treated 2,440 children for the disease, of whom 41 died. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.p...r-plummet.html