Health officials and residents in An Giang Province are carrying out preventive measures against Chikungunya, a mosquito-borne disease. Source https://suckhoedoisong.vn/

AN GIANG — The People’s Committee in Mekong Delta Province of An Giang has instructed local authorities and agencies to take preventive measures against Chikungunya, a mosquito-borne viral disease, following two cases that tested positive for the virus in the province.  

The disease has broken out in several countries in Africa, Europe, and Asia, including Cambodia, which shares a border with An Giang.

Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne viral disease that causes fever and severe joint pain. Chikungunya is transmitted to humans by the bites of infected female mosquitoes and is caused by the chikungunya virus, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Lê Văn Phước, vice chairman of the committee, told the Department of Health to give guidance about preventive measures to directors of local health facilities. 

The department will also strengthen inspections and close surveillance of the disease to detect positive cases early and end further transmission. 

Medicine, medical materials, vehicles and chemicals to serve prevention and treatment will be prepared as well.

Departments and authorities in districts and towns near borders with Cambodia, including An Phú, Tân Châu, Tịnh Biên, Tri Tôn và TP Châu Đốc, have been told to raise public awareness about the disease.

The border defence forces, police and other agencies will work together to strictly control people entering and leaving Việt Nam, especially from or to Cambodia, and carry out preventive measures.

Most commonly, the mosquitoes involved are Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. The two species can also transmit other mosquito-borne viruses, including dengue fever. They bite throughout daylight hours, although there may be peaks of activity in the early morning and late afternoon. 

The HCM City Pasteur Institute said that two cases have been reported in An Phú District. One was a 5-year-old boy and another a 13-year-old male. They are recovering and are now at home.

Trần Hòa Hợp, chairman of the People’s Committee in the An Phú District, has met with district agencies to ensure that preventive measures are carried out quickly.

In the areas where the two patients live, Hợp has instructed local health officials to be on the alert for people who have a fever and symptoms similar to dengue fever.

Health officials and local authorities have sprayed chemicals to kill mosquitoes in these areas, and environmental sanitisation programmes have also been carried out.

Dr Phan Vân Điền Phương, vice director of the provincial Department of Health, said the disease’s symptoms are the same as dengue fever, such as sudden fever and severe joint pain. 

According to Phương, most patients diagnosed with Chikungunya do not need to be hospitalised and often get better on their own and recover completely. After recovery, their immunity against the disease lasts a fairly long time. VNS