The monsoons bring several diseases due to change of weather. Many people get sick during the monsoon as the damp and filthy conditions. Residents in Da Nang face threats from several infectious diseases, such as dengue fever, hand-foot-mouth disease, and measles.

Patients with dengue fever lying in a corridor because of overloading at the Da Nang General Hospital

According to a spokesperson for the Da Nang Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Da Nang has seen a complicated development of dengue fever.

As of 13 November, a total of over 6,600 cases of dengue fever had been reported in the city, a 1.98-fold increase compared with the same period last year.

Within the past 2 weeks, more than 700 dengue fever cases and over 80 outbreaks were identified in residential areas across the city.

In detail, 1,433 of the cases were reported in Thanh Khe, 1,294 in Hai Chau, 979 in Lien Chieu, and 889 in Son Tra, whilst the remainder were in other districts.

The Head of the Contagious Disease Management and Bio-Vaccine Division of the municipal Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Nguyen Tam Lam, remarked, the city has so far this year taken drastic measures to control the outbreaks of this mosquito-borne viral disease.

In particular, the district authorities across the city have encouraged their residents to clear up any grassy or bushy areas near their homes, and to remove sources of standing water which can become mosquito breeding grounds.

Also, district-level preventive medicine centres have become actively involved in spraying anti-mosquito chemicals at newly-detected hotspots in a bid to prevent the spread of the disease within local population.

Apart from dengue fever, Da Nang is facing a growing threat of tropical disease outbreaks.

Dr Nguyen Van Ngu, Head of the Ward for Tropical Medicine of the city’s Maternity and Paediatrics Hospital, said 44 children with hand-foot-mouth disease, plus 40 others with dengue fever and measles, were being treated at his ward.

“Since early this year, his unit has been giving medical examinations and treatment to 12 child patients diagnosed with leukemia. Most of them are from Quang Nam and Quang Ngai provinces”, he added.

In order to temporarily reduce patient overload, more hospital beds have been placed along the Ward’s corridor walls, leaving small space for doctors, nurses and patients to move around. In addition, more doctors and nurses have been arranged to meet the increasing number of inpatients.