Thailand: dengue outbreak

[Gert van der Hoek]

Surin suffering dengue hemorrhagic fever outbreak


Surin province reports that more than 100 dengue fever patients in local areas.

The Public Health Physician of Surin province, Mr. Kimhan Yongrattanakit (คิมหันต์ ยงรัตนกิจ), reports that dengue hemorrhagic fever incidence in the province is increasing steadily due to the availability of breeding ground for mosquitoes. Mr. Kimhan said that 112 dengue fever patients have been recorded from January 1 to April 10. The Suring muang district has the highest number of patients. No fatalities have been reported.

The Surin Public Health Physician said that in 2006, Surin province had as many as 2,449 dengue fever patients, with 3 fatalities. Local residents are therefore urged to assist in limiting the spread of dengue hemorrhagic fever by keeping water containers sealed, and household areas clean, in order to prevent mosquitoes from propagating.

http://www.thaisnews.com/news_detail.php?newsid=212772

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Thailand: dengue outbreak in Surin

Re: Thailand: dengue outbreak in Surin

Health alert as dengue cases rise

(TNA) - Thailand's Ministry of Public Health is on full alert to prevent the spread of dengue fever after the disease claimed four people's lives so far this year, and the number of dengue fever patients nationwide has risen to 6,000.

The focus of the outbreak is in Trat province, 400 km southeast of Bangkok on the Cambodian border, and in the southernmost provinces along the Malaysian border.

Trat has almost five times the frequency of the disease -- 46 patients per 100,000 population -- compared to the national average of 10 per 100,000, according to Public Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla, while Pattani experences 42 per 100,000 and Yala has 33 per 100,000 residents.

Earlier than usual rains has meant that dengue is a greater concern this year than before, Dr. Mongkol said. The insurgency in the far South means that anti-mosquito measures are more difficult to apply.

More breeding grounds for dengue-carrying mosquitoes emerge during the rainy season, he explained, especially in the three southernmost provinces where heavier rainfall contributes to a higher population of mosquitoes than in the country's other regions.

Dr. Mongkol said that the outbreak could become a severe problem in the border provinces as health officials can't implement pro-active strategies to fight the disease due to the ongoing violence.

The number of dengue fever patients is normally higher from May to August due to the rainy season. So far there have been 6,070 dengue fever patients in the first four months of this year.

The nationwide ratio amounted to nearly 10 patients per 100,000 persons in the population, he said. However, almost 1,000 new dengue fever cases have been reported in the past two weeks.

The highest concentration of dengue fever patients was reported in the eastern province of Trat with the ratio of 46:100,000, followed by the southern provinces of Pattani at 42: 100,000 and Yala at 33: 100,000 respectively.

The public health minister said he ordered health officials to work with local authorities to prevent the further spread on any outbreak.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=118508

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Thailand: dengue outbreak

CHIANG RAI MAE CHAN DISTRICT OUTBREAK

160 in hospital with dengue fever

SUBIN KHEUNKAEW

Chiang Rai _ An outbreak of dengue fever has hit a tambon in Mae Chan district where around 160 ethnic hilltribe villagers have been hospitalised with the illness.

Doctors said blood tests had confirmed that the villagers from tambon Mae Rai were suffering from the mosquito-borne viral disease.

Seven critically ill patients have been transferred from the district hospital to the provincial hospital for treatment, while many new cases arrived with symptoms of the disease at the district hospital yesterday.

All 500 houses in the tambon were fogged with pesticide yesterday.

Somchai Banchapol, a member of the tambon administration organisation blamed the rapid spread of the disease on poor awareness by the villagers.

He said they were Akha people, who, he claimed, were mostly poor and illiterate.

''All families agreed to pay the TAO 30 baht each to buy pest killers.

''We sprayed the chemicals throughout the village at 3 o'clock this afternoon,'' said Mr Somchai.

He said villagers have agreed to cooperate in a campaign to destroy the breeding grounds of mosquitoes, such as pools of stagnant water.


''Though a bit late, the people are now fully aware of the danger and doing all they can to prevent the situation from worsening,'' he said.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/05Jun2007_news11.php

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Thailand: dengue outbreak

New dengue cases 'linked to climate change'

The pattern of dengue fever this year was "abnormal" as the disease had spread to areas that had little record of dengue mosquitoes, a senior doctor from the Public Health Ministry said.

While Dr Kamnuan Ungchusak, director-general of the Department of Epidemiology, said he was yet to find the true cause of the pattern, scientists thought it might be connected to rising global temperatures.

Kamnuan said yesterday that statistics this year showed that the Northern provinces, particularly Chiang Rai, had been hard hit by dengue fever.

He said the phenomenon was "abnormal" as the dengue virus did not usually spread to the higher mountainous regions. The virus is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes.

Kamnuan said the Health Ministry had already assigned its regional disease control bureau to eliminate dengue mosquitoes by spraying in risk areas and removing containers that might contain mosquito larvae.

Kampol Rujivitch, a lecturer at Thammasat University's Faculty of Allied Health Science, said he believed rising temperatures could accelerate the life cycle of mosquitoes, cause the hatching period to arrive earlier, and enable the mosquitoes to reach higher elevations.

"We can't prove this 100 per cent, but in theory it is possible," he said.

Anond Snidvongs na Ayutthaya, of Chulalongkorn University, agreed with Kampol.

Anond, who has monitored weather and climate patterns of Thailand for more than a decade, said it was likely that the areas covered by dengue fever correlated with this year's weather patterns.

"High temperatures in the dry season and the earlier arrival of the rainy season is good for mosquitoes to lay eggs and hatch," he said.

Anond urged the Public Health Ministry to study the true cause of the "abnormal" spread and establish better surveillance and control.

"If it is proved that the spread of dengue fever is due to the impact of global warming, we can't fight it with traditional measures," he said, referring to the preventive approach and mosquito control spraying by the Health Ministry.

Kamnuan admitted the ministry has received some observations from scientists about the correlation between global warming and the spread of the virus.

However, he said ministry personnel, including himself, were not keen on studying the issue of climate change and its impact.

"We just respond to the problem," he said.

http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/06/07/national/national_30036227.php

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Thailand: dengue outbreak

Dengue fever outbreak kills 14 across Thailand

2007-06-07 21:30:28

BANGKOK, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's Ministry of Public Health announced on Thursday that the number of dengue fever patients nationwide has risen to over 10,000 and 14 people have been killed by the dangerous disease this year.

Until June 7, a total of 11,574 dengue fever patients, most of them between 10-24, have been found across the country, especially in the central, northeastern and southern Thailand, a public health official said.

The high-danger season of dengue fever is July but earlier-than-usual rains has meant that dengue is a greater concern this year than before, the official was quoted by local radio FM 100 as saying, adding that the insurgency in the far South means that anti-mosquito measures are more difficult to apply.

More breeding grounds for dengue-carrying mosquitoes emerge during the rainy season, he explained, especially in the three southernmost provinces where heavier rainfall contributes to a higher population of mosquitoes than in the country's other regions.

The Ministry of Public Health has ordered health officials to work with local authorities to prevent the further spread on any outbreak.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-06/07/content_6212663.htm

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Thailand: dengue outbreak

Dengue fever cases increase in Thailand

2007-07-07

BANGKOK, July 7 (Xinhua) -- More than 21,000 patients suffering from dengue fever have been treated in Thailand during the first half of this year, including 17 persons dying from the rainy season disease, a senior public health ministry official said Saturday.

Bureau of Vector-Borne Diseases director Wichai Satimai said a total of 21,251 dengue fever patients were identified during the first six months of 2007, representing a 36 percent increase from the corresponding period of last year.

Seventeen Thai victims died during the period. The sharp increase in the number of patients during the period was attributed to the early onset of the rainy season in Thailand, causing the quick breeding of dengue-carrying striped mosquitoes, said Wichai.

The incidence of dengue has been significantly on the rise in other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries including Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Singapore, during the period, he added.

Earlier this week Cambodia reported 132 deaths from dengue fever in June alone, and asked for Thailand's medical assistance, which is being extended

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-07/07/content_6342685.htm