A child with dengue fever receiving intensive treatment at a hospital in HCM City. - Vietnam News/Asia News Network
HO CHI MINH CITY (Vietnam News/Asia News Network): Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City authorities are calling on the health sector and each individual to take all the precautions needed to tackle dengue fever amid a spike in new infections in Vietnam's second largest city.
Speaking on Tuesday, Nguyen Van Nen, secretary of the city Party Committee, said there could be more dengue outbreaks in the city unless urgent measures are taken.
The city was struggling to fight against both Covid-19 and dengue diseases at the same time, which could raise the risk of overloading the healthcare system, he said.
The city had constantly recorded a surge in dengue cases with a high rate of severity due to a delay in hospital admissions and improper or late treatment at home, he noted.
The city should be ready to activate a treatment system capable of responding to 2,000 to 6,000 cases of dengue, Nen said.
“It is especially important to reduce the number of severe cases and deaths,” he added.
Vuong Anh Duong, deputy head of the Ministry of Health’s department of medical examination and treatment, said HCM City had seen a 50% increase in cases from the same period last year.
The districts of Binh Tan, Tan Phu, Binh Chanh, Hoc Mon and Cu Chi along with District 12 had the highest rates of infection in the city, he said.
The wide spread of the disease had been caused by a shortage of chemical insecticide, and a lack of funding and personnel for dengue prevention and control, he added.
Nen said it was necessary to kill mosquitoes and mosquito larvae and ensure environmental sanitation in residential areas.
The city health sector is required to provide training for medical systems at all levels, including community health facilities, medical stations and hospitals, to raise awareness of dengue disease prevention and treatment.
“Each individual should take simple measures to eliminate mosquitoes like cleaning water containers, changing water in bottles, vases and tanks, and keeping the house tidy.
“It is also important to spray insecticides and clean up to get rid of mosquitoes,” Nen said.
The city has run an app called “Online Health” for residents to report to the department any areas in the community at risk of dengue fever.
According to the HCM City Centre for Disease Control, since the beginning of 2022, the city has recorded more than 26,140 cases of dengue fever, a surge of 228% over the same period last year.
Severe cases accounted for about 10-15% of the total. Severe cases were mostly of children between five and 14 years old.
According to Dr Truong Huu Khanh, head of the Infectious Diseases Department at the HCM City-based Nhi Dong I Hospital, a dengue epidemic normally occurs every four to five years, and 2022 was expected to be an outbreak year.
