Health officials inspect Da Nang’s dengue fever prevention

The central city of Da Nang should roll out communication campaigns on dengue fever prevention on a larger scale and with diverse methods, focusing on densely-populated areas.

This was among tasks spelled out by Director of the Nha Trang based Pasteur Institute Vien Quang Mai who led a delegation of the Health Ministry to inspect Da Nang’s dengue fever prevention on August 16.

Apart from tightly covering water containers to hinder mosquitoes from laying eggs and spraying mosquito repellent, the city should encourage people displaying dengue fever symptoms to come to medical centers to receive timely treatment, he said.

A dengue fever patient is being treated at the Lien Chieu district medical centre, Da Nang city

Mai suggested establishing a municipal steering committee for dengue fever combat, training health workers and heads of residential areas in dengue fever prevention skills and paying heed to other diseases during this rainy season.

Mentioning the fifth Asian Beach Games to be hosted by the central city from September 24-October 3, 2016, the official reminded the municipal health sector to keep a closer eye on food safety and disease prevention.

According to Ton That Thanh, Director of the Da Nang Centre of Preventive Medicine, the locality has recorded 2,240 dengue cases so far this year, with Son Tra, Hai Chau and Thanh Khe districts reporting the highest numbers of infections.

He blamed the outbreak of the disease on the mosquito’s breeding cycle which peaks in the rainy season, recent rising temperatures and droughts due to the impacts of the El Nino and negligence of localities and residents.

Statistics from the Health Ministry’s General Department of Preventive Medicine showed that the number of people that contracted dengue fever in the first six months of this year reached over 44,800, more than 2.5 times higher than the same period last year.

Many new cases have been reported in localities including Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Gia Lai and Kon Tum, An Giang, Dong Thap, Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, Binh Dinh and HCM City.

Given this, the ministry has established eight inspection teams to supervise and assist dengue fever prevention activities in 18 localities suffering the most from dengue fever throughout the country.