Nguyen Van Binh, deputy head of the Health Ministry’s Center for Preventive Healthcare, said the mosquito-borne outbreak will continue.

This year could be the worst year on record as hot weather and rising rainfall have created thriving mosquito populations that spread the disease.

Additionally, the kind of Dengue people are contracting has changed recently.

In the 1999-2006 period, patients were infected mainly by D3 (Dengue 3) and D2.

However, this year serum tests have showed that 58 percent of cases contracted D1 while the other 42 percent have tested positive for all three types of the fever.

D1 causes serious complications like hemorrhages, carditis and liver problems.

Tran Ngoc Huu, head of the Ho Chi Minh City-based Pasteur Institute, said infections have risen as people have yet to acquire any immunity to D1.

According to statistics, Vietnam is recording 3,000 new dengue infections every week, an increase of over 33.3% year-on-year. The majority of patients are in southern provinces, especially the Mekong Delta region.

Ho Chi Minh City has seen about 2,000 dengue infections this year.

Le Thi Bich Lien from the HCMC Pediatrics Hospital Number 1 said the hospital receives some 20 cases daily.

According to the city’s Pediatrics Hospital Number 2, the number of its dengue patients within the last six months has been nearly equal to last year’s total number. Everyday, 15-20 dengue cases are hospitalized there.

Meanwhile the Mekong Delta region has been the worst-hit due to the complex systems of rivers and streams where mosquitoes breed.

Dong Thap province has reported that over 400 patients were hospitalized last week, raising the total number of infections to 4,400 in the first half of the year.

Similar numbers have been reported in Tien Giang province.

Kien Giang province has recorded over 3,100 cases, according to the provincial Preventive Healthcare Center.

In Soc Trang province, the number has been nearly 2,800.

Standing Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung has directed the ministry to cooperate with local health watchdogs and authorities to quickly stamp out the epidemic.

Last week the ministry held a conference with authorities from 20 of the country’s worst-hit localities to discuss measures to control the epidemic.

The disease has also struck a number of other Southeast Asia countries this year, including Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Source: Tuoi Tre – Translated by Tuong Nhi