During the first week of December, a total of 245 cases of dengue fever were recorded in Da Nang, a decrease of 33 against the previous week.  However, this figure has helped to bring the total number of dengue fever cases in the city to 1,768 since the start of this year, a 7-fold increase compared with the same period last year.

Son Tra District has emerged as a hot spot of the disease after the number of cases reported in the district jumped from 41 to 52 and then 57 in the last 3 weeks.

Mosquito larvae found in a water bucket outside a house in An Hai Bac Ward.

The main reasons seem to be that many vacant land lots in the district have become overgrown with weeds and covered with debris and domestic waste.  A 200m-long unasphalted road in the district’s Phuoc My Ward always turns to mud after rain, and some sewer systems in the district are without covers. 

In addition, some local residents in the district have taken advantage of nearby vacant land lots to grow vegetables and raise chickens.  Other people have left water jars, fishing tools and broken utensils outside their houses, and these provide ideal places for mosquitoes to lay their eggs.