Ho Chi Minh City grappling with HFMD, dengue fever outbreaks

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Source: http://www.thanhniennews.com/2010/Pages/20110610114808.aspx

City grappling with HFMD, dengue fever outbreaks
Last updated: 6/10/2011 11:30


Ho Chi Minh City health officials have warned of significant dengue fever and hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) outbreaks since the onset of the rainy season.

The number of HFMD cases reached a record 1,500 (with seven reported deaths) in May. The disease has claimed 13 lives among more than 3,000 reported cases in HCMC, this year.

Meanwhile, dengue fever has sickened around 4,000 city residents -- a 92-percent increase from the same period last year.

In May alone, more than 500 dengue fever cases were reported in HCMC.

Doctor Tran Anh Tuan of the HCMC Children?s Hospital 1 advised parents not to take their children to crowded places because they could easily catch fever and respiratory infection during the transition into the rainy season.

Doctors also warned of gastro-intestinal diseases, including E.coli outbreaks, during this time of year.

On Wednesday, the HCMC Health Department ordered officials in 24 districts to launch campaigns to raise public awareness about HFMD and other diseases during the rainy season.

The HCMC Preventive Health Center said it would organize a campaign to clean up the environment to prevent dengue fever, next week.
Reported by Thanh Tung

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Ho Chi Minh City grappling with HFMD, dengue fever outbreaks

Source: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/...alth-centres-lashed-over-dengue-outbreak.html

Updated July, 13 2011 10:12:03
Health centres lashed over dengue outbreak

HCM CITY ? Preventive medicine centres have done a poor job of preventing the outbreak of dengue fever and hand-foot-mouth disease in children in HCM City, according to city officials.

A recent report from the HCM City Preventive Medicine Centre shows that 4,715 cases of dengue fever have occurred since the beginning of the year.

Last month, the city's hospitals treated nearly 900 children who had contracted dengue fever.

Le Truong Giang, deputy head of HCM City's Department of Health, said preventive medicine centres must do more to control the outbreak of the disease.

HCM City Pediatric Hospital 2 has hospitalised more than 80 children with the disease. Many of them were in serious condition because they were admitted too late.

The city's Pediatric Hospital 1 was also treating at least 50 children infected with dengue fever.

Doctor Le Bich Lien, deputy director of HCM City Pediatric Hospital and head of the hospital's dengue fever department, said the number of children with dengue fever had doubled compared to the previous month.

Of the 100 children rushed to the hospital due to the disease, 20 had a high fever, Lien added.

The HCM City Hospital of Tropical Diseases was also treating more than 20 children with dengue fever.

Since early this year, the hospital has treated more than 500 adults with the disease.

Nguyen Dac Tho, director of HCM City Preventive Medicine Centre, said the outbreak had become much worse, even though the dengue-fever season was only beginning.

The number of infected cases since early this year doubled compared with the same period last year.

According to the city's Department of Health, the outbreak was partly due to the poor medicine preventive tasks at grassroots-level health agencies.

All 322 wards and communes in the city had dengue-fever patients.

At a recent meeting, Giang blamed localities for their neglect in preventing the dengue-fever outbreak. ? VNS