Dengue & DHF in Vietnam - March 2007 - July 24, 2008

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Dengue in Vietnam

Dengue fever swamps Mekong Delta

Health centers in the Mekong Delta are overloaded with dengue fever patients as some provinces have registered upwards of 200 cases a week over the past few months.

Since the beginning of the year, Dong Thap province has seen over 3,000 dengue cases while neighboring provinces like Kien Giang and An Giang have been hit with 2,350 and 2,200 cases, respectively.

Phu Quoc island?s district hospital has received 20-30 dengue patients a day over the past few weeks.

Additionally, health agencies in central Vietnam have reported several dengue fever outbreaks recently.

The disease has struck 27 percent more people this year than over the same period in 2006.

According to the Vietnam Administration of Preventive Medicine, 21,300 people have contracted the disease this year, 23 of them fatally. This is 27 percent more patients and 7 more deaths than over the same period last year.

http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=29604

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Dengue in Vietnam

Vietnam reports more dengue fever cases

Posted: 2007/07/19


HANOI, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has so far this year detected 32,900 dengue fever patients, including 34 fatalities, a year-on-year increase of nearly 40 percent in the number of infection cases, the local newspaper People reported Thursday.

Most of the cases have been found in the country's southern Mekong Delta, whose weather conditions and local people's habit of storing water in containers at their houses favor the breeding of mosquitoes, the disease's transmitter.

The delta's Tien Giang province has seen 4,800 infection cases, including five deaths; Dong Thap province, 4,600, including four deaths; and Kien Giang province, nearly 3,200, including six death.

Local healthcare agencies are asking residents to frequently clean up environment around their accommodations, mainly by keeping water containers close and clean and killing mosquitoes and their larvae.

In 2006, Vietnam reported over 77,800 cases of dengue fever infections, including 68 fatalities. Up to 84 percent of the infections and 91 percent of the deaths were found in the southern region.

http://mathaba.net/news/?x=558167

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Dengue in Vietnam


Dengue fever swamps Vietnam


Vietnam has recorded 50 percent more dengue fever infections this year than over the same period last year and the disease shows no signs of relenting, according to the Ministry of Health.

Over 88 percent of the mosquito-borne infections have occurred in the south, said health experts.

Nearly 53,000 of the nation’s 60,000 cases were reported in 20 southern provinces and cities, especially the Mekong Delta region where muggy weather and the abundance of large outdoor household water containers have proved conducive to the growth of mosquito populations in residential areas.

The worst-hit province, Dong Thap, has seen eight fatalities and nearly 8,000 infections this year, mostly in Hong Ngu, Thanh Binh, and Thap Muoi districts.

Head of the provincial health department Doctor Doan Hong said local hospitals and health centers had been overwhelmed.

The situation has shown no signs of easing up, according to health experts
The provincial administration has allotted over VND5 billion (about US$309,000), to control the epidemic this year alone.

Reported by Quang Minh Nhat – Translated by Tuong Nhi


Story from Thanh Nien News

Published: 23 September, 2007,

http://www.thanhniennews.com/print.php?catid=8&newsid=32187

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Dengue in Vietnam

Dengue fever runs riot in the South

05/10/2007

VietNamNet Bridge - Ho Chi Minh City has seen an unprecedented number of dengue fever deaths this year and the government agencies must do more to get the epidemic under control, Dr. Le Hoang San from the HCMC Pasteur Institute warned yesterday.

Already this year the disease has struck 61,632 people in southern Vietnam, which is 50 percent more than last year, and killed 56, an increase of 40 percent.

Dr. Le Bich Lien, who heads the Department of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever at Children?s Hospital No. 1, said the disease was spreading and showing no sign of easing up. Moreover, this year the transmitted virus is usually type D1 or D2.

The disease is changing in a complex way, especially in Ho Chi Minh City, where people still store water in open buckets and pots, observed Dr. San.

Local officials must marshal their resources to control the epidemic, publicize the latest news on the disease?s development, and bring in drastic measures to counter the rising death toll, another health official said.

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Dengue in Vietnam

Alarm raised as dengue fever spreads among HCMC adults

13:03' 12/10/2007 (GMT+7)


VietNamNet Bridge - The recent development of dengue fever in people over 15 years of age is puzzling officials, reported local health centers.

According to the statistics, the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases has lately been receiving huge patient loads, with an average of around 70-100 dengue fever cases per week.

This disease, which typically affects young children, is increasingly being diagnosed in adults.

Regardless of age, the hospital is not equipped to handle the numbers. Patients have had to share beds or stay temporarily in corridors.

According to Mr. Nguyen Dac Tho, Vice Director of the Preventive Health Center in HCMC, the risk of dengue fever is still high. The outbreak areas in the suburbs of the city are currently under control; however the districts in the inner city such as Binh Thanh, Tan Binh, Districts 8 and 11, and others are now reported as epidemic areas.


Around 300 dengue cases are being hospitalized every week for diagnosis in the city. The patients are mostly immigrants who come from other provinces and cities looking for work, and most are living in the slums. Since the beginning of the year, the epidemic has killed 6 including two adults.

The causes of the demographic change, from children to adults, have not yet been brought to light. However, scientists theorize the reasons may include a decline in general disease immunity within the community.


Symptoms of dengue fever can be more severe in adults than in children, and may include high fever, severe headaches, nausea, vomiting, bellyache, and diarrhea.

Several serious clinical signs such as myocarditis, hepatitis, and bleeding in the digestive tract can occur among adult patients who have been infected by Type D dengue fever.

Other symptoms may include a high level of ALT and AST liver enzymes, accompanied by low blood sugar and yellow skin.


The Steering Committee for Dengue Fever Protection asked the localities and health centers to help curb the spread of dengue fever by providing knowledge and education about the disease, transmission, and prevention to all people.

The committee also mandates that people who have a fever come to health centers immediately for timely treatment.

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2007/10/749030/

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Dengue in Vietnam

Friday, May 23, 2008

Dengue fever plagues HCMC children


More than 3,000 children have dengue fever in Ho Chi Minh City, twice the number last year, the city’s Health Department reported Tuesday.

Dr. Bich Lien, head of the Children Hospital 1’s Dengue Fever Department, said last week she was admitting 20-30 patients daily, but that had gone up to 40-60 now.

Children Hospital 2 is treating around 60 children at the moment.

Mekong Delta provinces too have been hit hard by the disease, with more than 10,000 cases having been reported so far this year.

The Vietnam Drug Administration last week instructed local health agencies and drug firms to stock up on drugs to respond to the current escalation of dengue fever.

Since the rainy season began a few weeks ago, some other seasonal diseases like hand-foot-and-mouth disease, mumps and chickenpox have also been on the increase, according to Children Hospital 1 deputy director Nguyen Thanh ****.

Nearly 1,300 children have been affected by hand-foot-and-mouth, 300 percent higher than last year.

http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=38717

[Shiloh]

Re: Dengue in Vietnam

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_8346401.htm

Vietnam reports 11 dengue fever fatalities in 5 months
www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-11 12:11:15

HANOI, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam detected 12,064 cases of dengue fever infections, including 11 fatalities in the first five months of this year, according to local newspaper People on Wednesday.

Most of the patients are from southern localities, including Soc Trang, Ben Tre and Ca Mau provinces, whose weather conditions and local people's habit of storing water in containers at their houses favor the breeding of mosquitoes, the disease's transmitter.

Local healthcare agencies are asking residents to frequently clean up environment around their accommodations, mainly by keeping water containers close and clean, and killing mosquitoes and their larvae. 　

Editor: An Lu

[Commonground]

Re: Dengue in Vietnam

[So in one month you had 8,000 cases and 9 deaths, when comparing with the above post]
hat-tip Treyfish

Vietnam reported 20 deaths of dengue fever in first half


www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-30 12:30:56 Print

HANOI, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam reported more than 20,000 cases of dengue fever with 20 deaths in the first six months of this year, according to the Vietnamese newspaper People's Army here Monday.

The disease mostly occur in the country's southern regions. Ho Chi Minh City leads the list with 3,754 cases and two deaths. Soc Trang Province reported 1,717 cases with one death, the newspaper cited figures from the Health Ministry

[Shiloh]

Re: Dengue in Vietnam

Source: http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy...8&newsid=39999

Last Updated: Monday, July 7, 2008 11:01:13 Vietnam (GMT+07)
Dengue fever plagues HCMC and Mekong Delta

Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta are in the grip of a dengue fever outbreak, with many hospitals overloaded with cases.

HCMC Preventative Health Department Deputy Director Nguyen Dac Tho said about 4,000 cases of dengue fever had been reported in the city in the first six months of the year, with about 100 new cases recorded every week.

Thu Duc District has reported the highest number of dengue fever cases, followed by districts 7, 8 and Tan Phu, Tho said.

Dang Hai Dang, deputy director of Ca Mau Province?s Preventive Health Department, said the number of patients struck down with dengue fever in his province over the past month was nearly double the number reported in the first five months of this year.

Tran Van Thoi District has been hardest hit, with 600 cases reported so far this year, followed by the U Minh and Thoi Binh districts and Ca Mau Town, he said.

At the Children?s Emergency Department of Ca Mau General Hospital, two or three patients share each bed.

The tropical disease, transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, has claimed four lives in Ca Mau Province this year.

Soc Trang Province has the highest number of cases, with more than 1,900 cases reported so far this year.

The provincial hospital?s children department often struggles to cope with the influx of Dengue patients.

In Tien Giang Province, more than 1,400 cases of the disease have been reported this year.

One death, a seven-year-old boy, was also reported.

Between 300 and 700 cases each of Dengue fever have been reported in the Mekong Delta provinces of Dong Thap, Bac Lieu, Kien Giang and Ben Tre.

Ho Chi Minh City?s Pasteur Institute has run prevention and treatment training courses for health officials from Soc Trang, Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and Hau Giang provinces.

Ca Mau?s health agency staff have been touring the province to advise residents on how to prevent the disease.

The health departments of Soc Trang, Dong Thap, Kien Giang and HCMC have launched mosquito eradication programs.

Source: Thanh Nien, Agencies

[Shiloh]

Re: Dengue in Vietnam

Source: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/ne...ple_in_Vietnam

Dengue fever kills 21 people in Vietnam
Jul 10, 2008, 9:45 GMT

Hanoi - Dengue fever, a mosquito-borne virus, has killed at least 21 people out of 22,000 infected in Vietnam so far this year, an official said Thursday.

The number of people killed by the virus is 25 per cent lower than the same period last year and the number of people infected is 14 per cent lower, according to Nguyen Huy Nga, director of the Ministry of Health's Preventive Medicine Department.

'We predict that the number of people affected and killed by dengue fever this year will be lower than that of last year, though the peak of the dengue fever season is not until August and September,' Nga said.

Nga that said most of the people infected and killed were from the country's southern provinces and that 60 per cent of them were under 15 years old.

'There is no vaccine for the disease, and the most effective way to prevent the disease is to kill mosquitoes,' Nga said.

The official said the age group prone to dengue fever is getting higher. Ten years ago, 90 per cent of the dengue fever cases were under 15 years old, but now it is only 60 per cent.

In 2007, dengue fever infected more than 100,000 people and killed nearly 90.