Children are treated for dengue fever at the Department of Intensive Care and Anti-Poison at Children Hospital 1. —VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — Dengue fever cases are increasing sharply in the South, with more than 20,000 cases recorded from the beginning of this year, a year-on-year increase of 68 per cent, according to a report by the Pasteur Institute in HCM City.

Nearly 73 per cent of dengue fever cases in the South are concentrated in localities in the Southeast region.

In HCM City alone, to date, more than 9,500 cases of dengue fever have been logged this year, with high numbers of cases per 100,000 residents recorded in Cần Giờ, Củ Chi and Nhà Bè districts.

Hospitals in the city are providing emergency care for critical cases of dengue fever.

Children Hospital 1 in HCM City has received more than 100 children with severe dengue fever since the beginning of the year, nearly double the number last year.

Children Hospital 2, in less than a month, has admitted 19 cases of severe dengue fever, while in the same period last year there were only two severe cases.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phạm Văn Quang, head of the Department of Intensive Care and Anti-Poison at Children Hospital 1, said that dengue fever cases are expected to surge this year.

Hospitals have prepared resources to respond, organised training on diagnosis and treatment of dengue fever for medical staff in the city as well as the southern provinces.

He warned that dengue fever often worsens from the fourth to sixth day of the illness, and if not monitored carefully, children are at risk of developing severe complications like shock and severe bleeding.

Doctors recommend that as the South is now in the rainy season, the peak time of dengue epidemic, people should take measures to kill mosquitoes and larvae, as well as avoid mosquito bites. —VNS