Dengue fever outbreak plagues Hanoi

By Phuong Trang   July 19, 2017 | 12:37 am PT
Dengue fever outbreak plagues Hanoi
Dengue fever patients at National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/P.T
200 dengue patients have been hospitalized per day over the past two weeks, quadrupling the same period last year.

Around 5,300 dengue fever cases have been reported in and around Hanoi so far this year, with more than 1,100 cases recorded last week alone, according to the city’s health department.

The National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi has been admitting 200 dengue patients per day over the past two weeks, four times higher than the same period last year.

Hospital director Nguyen Van Kinh told VnExpress that doctors are concerned about the unusually high number of deaths caused by brain hemorrhages. Five patients have already died from the condition so far this year, compared to only one or two in previous years.

Patients can suffer bleeding on the brain just three days after contracting the mosquito-borne virus, even when they appear healthy, Kinh said.

He said that anyone with a fever should seek medical treatment as soon as possible.

During the first six months of this year, more than 45,000 people caught dengue fever in Vietnam, up 0.3 percent on-year. 15 deaths were also reported, up by two from a year ago, official data from the health ministry showed.

Vietnam recorded 110,800 cases of dengue fever last year, up 1.9 percent against 2015, but the number of deaths fell from 54 to 36.

The country is trying to find an effective way to tackle dengue fever, one of the biggest killers out of its 28 common infectious diseases.

There is currently no specific vaccine or treatment for dengue.

 
 
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