Saturday, May 23, 2009

Ho Chi Minh City sees early rise in dengue fever cases

Thanhnien News (Vietnam): …Early onset of the monsoon has seen a usual spurt in the disease brought forward by more than a month and caught people unprepared. Doctors have warned that mosquito-born dengue fever cases in the city would be more severe this year.

…Every day, more than 30 children are being treated for dengue fever at the Children’s Hospital No. 2 [in Ho Chi Minh City] while the Hospital for Tropical Diseases is admitting 10-17 adults. Dengue fever causes the same symptoms as flu and other kinds of fever in the first three days, Lien said, advising parents to watch carefully to recognize when their children develop critical conditions such as hemorrhage, vomiting-or faster heartbeats.

Eighty-five percent of the severe cases admitted to Children’s Hospital No. 1 were children on day four or five of the disease when the fever had gone but the disease had turned severe.

HCMC has topped the list nationwide with more than 3,600 dengue fever cases so far this year, said Nguyen Huy Nga, head of the Preventive Health and Environment Department under the Health Ministry. The country’s total has reached more than 16,600, up 20 percent year on year.

…Climate change, according to Nga, has caused the early onset of the rainy season and also increased the amount of rainfall, resulting in an increase in number of dengue fever cases and the severity of the disease in Singapore and Indonesia as well…..

The virus that causes dengue fever

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