The worst outbreak of dengue fever in years has hit Southeast Asia, prompting the WHO to call for better prevention campaigns as experts question

Dengue Fever Outbreak Hits Parts of Asia Save Email Print

Posted: 3:44 PM Oct 26, 2007

HANOI, Vietnam - The worst outbreak of dengue fever in years has hit
Southeast Asia, prompting the World Health Organization to call for
better prevention campaigns as experts question whether global warming
is partly to blame.

Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand have all experienced large
outbreaks. Most of the victims are children who arrive at hospitals
burning up with fever and crying from intense joint pain, a common
symptom of the so-called "bone-breaker" disease.

There is no vaccine or cure for the four different varieties of the
mosquito-borne virus spreading within the region. Even though
outbreaks in several countries appear to be waning, many patients are
still falling ill.

"We should really be in prevention mode, putting in place sound
measures for suppressing the vector population so we can at least
dampen down the epidemic," said Michael Nathan, a dengue expert at WHO
in Geneva.

Every week for the past two months, some 350 patients have been
admitted to hospitals in Vietnam's southern Ho Chi Minh City. That is
double the number from the same period last year, said Nguyen Dac Tho,
deputy director of the city's preventive medicine department

Nationwide, Vietnam has logged nearly 80,000 cases this year,
including 68 deaths. That is a 50 percent increase over the same
period in 2006, with the majority reported in the country's southern
provinces where the monsoon season runs from June through December.

Nguyen Huy Nga, director of the national Preventive Medicine
Department, said the number of cases has dropped down to about 2,000
cases each week since early October, from nearly 3,000 new cases
reported weekly in September.

"We are now concentrating our efforts to completely wipe out dengue
outbreaks to prevent possible flare ups next year," he said.

Dengue infects up to 50 million people worldwide every year; WHO
estimates 19,000 deaths occurred in 2002, according to its most recent
data. It causes rashes, blistering headaches, nausea and excruciating
joint aches. The most serious form of the disease can cause internal
bleeding, liver enlargement and circulatory shut down.

"This is the first time I've ever been this sick. Blood formed under
my skin," said Ngo Dinh Khoi, 33, while resting in a bed he was forced
to share with another dengue patient. "It was like someone was putting
needles into my joints."

Indonesia has also had a bad year with more than 123,500 cases and
1,250 deaths, already surpassing the 114,000 cases for all of 2006.
WHO sent regional expert Chusak Prasittisuk to Jakarta this week to
assess the situation and help ready hospitals and the public for the
rainy months ahead, when most cases are typically reported.

"I've come here to urge them to prepare for the worst scenario," he
said.

Cambodia also has been hit hard, logging some 38,500 cases and 389
deaths - more than double the same figures from 2006. The bulk of
those sickened were children younger than 15, said Ngan Chantha, head
of the national dengue center.

However, he said the situation has improved in recent weeks, following
an intense public awareness campaign warning residents to keep water
from collecting in containers around their houses where mosquitoes can
breed.

Thailand and Malaysia have recorded a combined 80,000 cases, with 67
and 88 deaths, respectively.

"Experts say it's partly due to global warming because it's increased
the amount of water, not only sea water, but fresh water where
mosquitoes breed," said Dr. Thawat Suntrajarn, director of Thailand's
Department of Communicable Diseases. Thailand's rainy season started
earlier this usual this year.

Scientists fear rising temperatures and longer rainy seasons, as
Thailand experienced this year, will allow more vector-borne diseases
such as dengue and malaria to flourish.

Singapore, for instance, saw mean annual temperatures increase 2.7
degrees Fahrenheit between 1978 and 1998, while the number of dengue
fever cases jumped tenfold during the same period.

This year, the number of cases has tripled in the city state over last
year. About 200 patients are still being admitted weekly, though only
a handful have died.

The last major dengue outbreak to hit Southeast Asia was in 1998, when
about 350,000 cases and nearly 1,500 deaths were reported. Indonesia
and Thailand were not included in that tally.

___

Associated Press writers Tran Van Minh in Vietnam; Ker Munthit in
Cambodia; Sean Yoong in Malaysia; Mick Elmore in Thailand; Gillian
Wong in Singapore and Irwan Firdaus in Indonesia contributed to this
report.

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