Authorities of Mekong Delta region have been cautioned about increasing number of people contracting dengue fever two months prior to the virus' peak season, health experts were quoted by the Vietnam News Agency as saying June 12. Statistics from An Giang Province's Preventive Medicine Centre showed that more than 1,180 people have contracted the disease so far this year, including three deaths and 240 patients with very serious symptoms. The number of dengue fever patients in the province is 1.6 times higher than the same period last year. Nine out of the province's 11 districts have reported patients hospitalized for treatment, according to the statistics. Figures from Dong Thap Province's Preventive Medicine Center revealed that more than 800 people have been infected with the dengue fever since early this year, including two fatalities, an increase of 360 cases compared to the same period last year. While the epidemic has attacked 800 people and one death have been reported in Tien Giang Province during the period. Deputy Director Vo Huy Danh of An Giang Province's Preventive Medicine Centre said the disease had spread widely in both urban and rural areas, and that a number of dengue patients are likely to rise in the upcoming months. The centre has sprayed chemicals in two communes that showed signs of the epidemic and a campaign has been launched to encourage people to kill mosquitoes around their homes, Danh said. A team of health counselors planned to go to 15 high-risk communes to deliver advice to local residents about the prevention of dengue fever and a hotline was set up to give timely assistance, Danh added. Dr Luu Thi Thu Ha, head of Dong Thap Province's Preventive Medicine Center's Contagious Diseases Unit, said the department would spray chemicals at schools and public places in the four districts of Thap Muoi, Chau Thanh, Cao Lanh and Sa Dec.
