According to the latest statistics released by the Da Nang Preventive Medicine Centre, over the past 2 weeks 260 cases of dengue fever were recorded in the city.  This has brought the total number of cases since the start of this year to 3,458, an increase of 1,500 against the same period last year. 

A discarded plastic bottle can provide an ideal place for mosquitoes to lay their eggs.

Forty-five of the recent cases were recorded in Lien Chieu, 44 in Hai Chau, and 35 in Cam Le, whilst the remainder were in other districts.

Every week, an average of 10 hot spots for outbreaks of this disease are identified locally, and already they have all been sprayed with anti-mosquito chemicals.  The majority of the hot pots have been discovered in such suburban wards as Hoa Quy, Hoa Phong and Hoa Minh.

The Head of the Contagious Disease Management and Bio-Vaccine Division of the municipal Preventive Medicine Centre, Dr Nguyen Tam Lam, remarked, “Over recent months, Da Nang has seen a complicated development of this disease”.  It is expected that the number of cases of dengue fever is likely to continue to increase unless effective and prompt measures are taken to control the outbreak. 

Spraying an anti-mosquito chemical at a newly-detected hotspot

In an effort to deal with this matter of deep concern, district-level preventive medicine centres are focusing on spraying anti-mosquito chemicals at newly-detected hotspots. 

However, Dr Nguyen Van Quang from the Son Tra District Preventive Medicine Centre complained that many residents have yet to be made aware of dengue fever prevention measures.  Some residents have left water jars, fishing tools and broken utensils outside their houses, and these provide ideal places for mosquitoes to lay their eggs.

Doctors from the municipal centre advised that local residents should sleep under mosquito nets, clear up any grassy or bushy areas near their homes, and remove sources of standing water which can become breeding grounds for the mosquitoes.  These measures will help to prevent any more outbreaks of the disease in the city, thereby minimising the infectious and sometimes fatal consequences of this epidemic disease.