Dengue fever warning as prevention programme phased out

Even though more than 50,000 Vietnamese contracted dengue fever in the first nine months of this year, the government's programme to prevent such epidemics has been phased out, health officials say.

"With so many people infected, this is a real threat to the community's health," said Nguyen Huy Nga, director of the Preventive Medicine and Environment Administration at the Ministry of Health.

The Ministry of Health says that so far more than 50 people have died of dengue haemorrhagic fever this year. About 60 percent of those who contracted dengue were children younger than 15.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently sounded the dengue alarm. According to WHO, the Aedes-aegypti mosquito, which carries dengue, is appearing in geographical regions previously unaffected. Public health experts said changing weather patterns and rapid urban growth were partly to blame for the spread of the mosquito to new areas. Some 2.5 billion people globally are at risk of the disease.

Though the number of cases nationwide is down 20 percent over the previous year, urban centres have seen a spurt in new cases. In Ho Chi Minh City – the country's economic hub – more than 7,000 people have contracted dengue this year, an increase of 60 percent. In Hanoi, the numbers are up 20 percent.

Surge in new patients

The surge in new patients has put a strain on health-care facilities. Le Bich Lien, director of the Dengue Fever Faculty at Pediatrics Hospital No. 1 in Ho Chi Minh City, told IRIN that hospitals were overwhelmed.

"Two to three children have to share one hospital bed," said Lien. "We don't have enough space for patients and our staff is swamped. Those who are not provided with proper and timely medical help could face serious consequences."

Patients suffering from dengue, also known as "break bone fever", typically experience severe headaches and joint pain, and potentially life-threatening fevers. There is no vaccine or treatment other than keeping patients hydrated.

At a regional meeting in Manila in late-September, WHO urged affected nations to invest more in dengue prevention and mosquito eradication, not just during outbreaks, but all year round. WHO also said countries needed to improve their outbreak response by educating people on how to recognise dengue fever's symptoms and when to seek medical care.

Photo: WHO

The Aedes-aegypti mosquito carries dengue fever

Worst outbreak in 1999

Despite being one of the countries hardest hit, Vietnam's nine-year national dengue control programme ended last year as scheduled. It was initiated in 1999 after one of the worst outbreaks in Vietnam's history when some 300,000 people were infected and 400 died.

Health experts in Vietnam said the US$1 million-a-year prevention and control programme achieved significant results. There is now a push to reinstate it and increase spending to $3 million annually, said Nga.

"If the programme does not start again, it will have disastrous effects on our disease-control capacity," Nga told IRIN. "There is a possibility of another large outbreak."

Though government funding has stalled, several international NGOs are working to control the spread of disease-carrying mosquitoes.

"Dengue fever is preventable and no one should be infected or die of it," says Simon Kutcher, the Vietnam programme manager for the Australian Foundation for the Peoples of Asia and the Pacific's project on dengue.

Kutcher's programme encourages people to raise mesocyclops – a tiny shrimp-like creature that eats mosquito larvae. The crustaceans are grown in pots typically used by farmers in southern Vietnam to store fresh water. The method is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than spraying pesticides, says Kutcher.

Vietnamese health experts said urban areas were becoming the largest breeding ground for mosquitoes because of poor sanitation and a fast-growing population. The practice of rainwater harvesting and failure to dispose of plastic containers and tyres, which are perfect mosquito-breeding environments, is also contributing to the spread of dengue.

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