Dengue fever infections surge to 70,000 in Vietnam

Vietnam has recorded an increasing number of dengue fever cases in the past two months, totaling nearly 70,000 so far this year, according to a health official.

Some 57 percent of the cases were detected in southern provinces, said Dang Quang Tan, head of the Ministry of Health's General Department of Preventive Medicine, at an online meeting on disease prevention, vaccination and vaccination safety, according to a news report of local newspaper Vietnam News on Tuesday.

Cases recorded in central provinces account for 32 percent of the total, while those in central highlands region and northern provinces account for 6 percent and 4 percent respectively, according to the health official.

The total number of cases has decreased year on year, and the development of the disease was basically similar to previous years, Tan said.

However, he warned that as the rainy season arrived, the situation could become more complicated, especially in central and southern provinces.

Despite preventive measures including intensive action on killing mosquitoes and larva, the disease still broke out and spread, Tan said, blaming the problem on poor public awareness.

Notably, due to COVID-19, the effectiveness of dengue surveillance and control in localities have also been affected, he added.

As many as seven people had died from dengue fever this year as of Sept. 15, compared to 39 deaths in the same period last year, data from the Ministry of Health showed.

According to local experts, without drastic preventive measures, dengue could spread widely in the next few months as Vietnam loosens social distancing and travel restrictions while the weather then will be very favorable for mosquitoes to grow.

In 2019, Vietnam reported some 320,700 cases of dengue fever infection, a 2.5-fold increase compared to 2018, causing 53 deaths, according to the country's General Statistics Office.