Southern Vietnam provinces discuss battle against dengue epidemic

[Snowy Owl]

Southern Vietnam provinces discuss battle against dengue epidemic
http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=20355

Health agencies from 20 southern Vietnamese provinces and cities discussed measures to tackle an increasingly serious dengue epidemic at a meeting Thursday.

The meeting, held in Can Tho province under the auspices of the National Project for Dengue Prevention, agreed that the disease could only be fought by exterminating mosquitoes and larvae.

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This year 39,200 people in 20 southern provinces and cities have contracted the disease, 37 of them fatally. It represents a 61.5 percent increase in the number of infections and 22 more deaths compared to last year.

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Secretary of the National Project for Dengue Prevention, Nguyen Trong Toan, said while the dengue virus type 2 (D2) had been more common so far, the virus type 1 (D1) was rapidly increasing and would account for the bulk of the cases during the remaining months.

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Ho Chi Minh City, Ba Ria ? Vung Tau, Kien Giang, and An Giang have been the worst hit, with HCMC topping with some 5,200 cases and four deaths.

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The prevalence of mosquitoes and larvae are found to be rising across the region.​

The Ho Chi Minh City People?s Committee ? the city government ? has spent VND1 billion (US$62,420) on measures to control mosquitoes and larvae.

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However, a city Health Prevention Center official, Chu Xuan Hien, said: ?We need 160,000 guppy fish to eliminate larvae but have just got 30,000.?

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Dengue, a common disease in Third World countries, is marked by high fever, dermal eruptions, and severe pain in the head and limbs.

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Dengue virus serotypes 1 to 4 are transmitted to humans mainly by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.

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This fever is fatal in about 5 percent of cases, mostly among children and young adults.

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Reported by Quang Minh Nhat ? Translated by Luu Thi Hong​

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