CẦN THƠ – The Cần Thơ Department of Health said there have been 213 cases of dengue fever in the city this year and 60 hotspots.

Eighty eight per cent of the victims were people aged under 15 years.

Thạch Minh Đức, deputy head of the dengue fever division at the Cần Thơ Children’s Hospital, said: “The hospital received 200 patients this month. The disease is expected to spread further.”  

The downtown area is among the worst affected, with Ninh Kiều District accounting for 25 cases and Ô Môn for 32, he said.

The department said the southern region is severely affected in the rainy season.

There have been four deaths in the country in the first six months out of 20,552 cases.

In Cần Thơ the number of cases has decreased by 41.4 per cent this year, according to the department.

Huỳnh Minh Trúc, director of the city Preventive Medicine Centre, said unhygienic living conditions are the major cause for the spread of dengue in Cần Thơ and its neighbouring areas.

Besides, local authorities do not educate or warn the public about it, he said.

The city has failed to clean up hotspots like vacant lands where wastewater stagnates, he said.

The department has urged health authorities in other cities and provinces to carry out prevention activities on ASEAN Dengue Day, June 15.

Cần Thơ authorities plan to set up teams of health workers who will supervise activities to combat the disease in key areas together with their counterparts from Mekong Delta provinces.

It includes campaigns to destroy mosquitoes and their larvae especially in hotspots.

Nguyễn Trung Nghĩa, deputy director of the department, said: “We are focusing on completely clearing infection hotspots of dengue-causing mosquitoes.” ---VNS