A medical worker sprays chemicals to prevent dengue fever. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Amid the complicated development of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have mistaken dengue fever symptoms for COVID-19, which leads to a late or false diagnosis of dengue fever that can be fatal, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Việt Nam has so far this year recorded 49,113 cases of dengue fever and 18 deaths.

The fatalities were located in southern areas of the country, including Bình Phước, HCM City, Đồng Nai, Bình Dương, Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu, Phú Yên, Sóc Trăng, Tây Ninh and Bình Thuận.

In order to ensure dengue fever treatment and reduce the fatality rate, the MoH has ordered leaders of hospitals, medical establishments and health departments nationwide to continue taking COVID-19 prevention and control measures while at the same time ensuring health examinations and treatment for other diseases, including dengue fever which is on the rise.

Besides raising public awareness of dengue fever, other measures such as adjusting the process of receiving and screening new patients as part of COVID-19 prevention measures and training medical workers to better diagnose and treat dengue fever are also needed.

Medical establishments are required to closely monitor dengue fever patients to promptly detect and treat severe cases and keep hotlines open to provide consultancy, related information and support.

Health facilities must prepare adequate medical equipment and medicine for dengue fever treatment. 

Both COVID-19 and dengue fever are dangerous infectious diseases caused by viruses, according to Trần Thanh Dương, Head of the National Institute of Malariology, Parasitology and Entomology. COVID-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus and can be transmitted from human to human through aerosol droplets while dengue fever is caused by one of four types of dengue viruses and infects people through the bite of Aedes mosquitoes.

Both diseases have similar symptoms such as: muscle pain, fever, chills and headaches, according to Dương. However, dengue fever has another symptoms such as skin rashes, red face and red eye scleras or even bleeding (nosebleed or odontorrhagia), stomach ache and vomiting. Meanwhile, COVID-19 patients will have such symptoms as coughing, sore throat and breathing difficulties. 

In the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic, one might mistake dengue fever for COVID-19 infection and neglect the proper diagnosis and testing, which could lead to wrong or late treatment, according to Dương.

As dengue fever does not transmit from human to human as COVID-19, but instead through a vector (mosquitoes), people should proactively kill the vector to prevent transmission. 

The MOH recommends people to fully cover all water containers so that the mosquitoes cannot lay eggs inside, eliminate mosquito larvae and clean water containers regularly. They also suggest sleeping with mosquito nets, wear long-sleeve clothes and coordinate with local medical workers to spray chemicals to prevent the disease. — VNS