Dengue fever is estimated to have affected roughly 60,000 Vietnamese people between Jan and Nov, claiming 52 lives, the government’s General Statistics Office (GSO) said. The figures include eight deaths out of a total 17,800 dengue fever patients in Nov, the GSO added. Dengue fever results in a high number of fatalities in Vietnam every year, thus the vaccine plays an important role. The average number of such patients is estimated at 25,000-76,000 with 45-111 deaths per year, experts said. Notably, hand-foot-mouth disease is prevalent in all 63 provinces and cities, with 153 deaths among nearly 90,200 infections so far this year, including 23 deaths and 18,700 infections in Nov, the GSO added. In Jan-Nov period, up to 649 others contracted typhoid while viral hepatitis and viral encephalitis affected 8,500 and 979 local people, respectively. The country has also identified 759 A/H1N1 flu infection cases, including 17 mortalities and recorded an additional 1,500 HIV /AIDS sufferers in Nov. (GSO Nov Edition)
