A child is under treatment after contracting dengue fever (Illustrative photo - Source: tuoitre.vn)

Up to 872 cases of dengue fever, including o­ne death, have been reported in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre in the last six months, tripling those in the same period last year.

According to Vice Director of the provincial Health Department Vo Hong Khanh, the districts of Binh Dai, Thanh Phu and Mo Cay Nam recorded the largest numbers of dengue infections.

To cope with the situation, the province's health sector has intensified supervision of dengue developments.

Campaigns to raise public awareness of the importance of hygienic practices and waste collection, and those to spray mosquito repellent in high-risk areas have been operated across the locality, contributing to containing the spread of the disease.

Locals were recommended to use mosquito nets and cover tightly water containers to hinder mosquitoes from laying eggs. They were also advised to swiftly go for a medical examination to timely detect the disease.

How to control dengue

The most common control strategy used to date has been a vertical top-down approach using house-to-house inspections, insecticide spraying and treatment of water containers where mosquitoes breed, and community education. Because dengue mosquitoes breed primarily in water containers, it is relatively easy to target these for vector control, particularly through elimination of discarded containers which provide breeding sites for the vector. Dengue control programme has piloted several models for community-based vector control - such as:

• the use of Mesocyclops (a copepod crustacean) in community-based biological control programmes, Mesocyclops are placed into water containers to eat larvae..
• providing guppy fish to school children who then place the guppies in water containers at home.
• establishment of a dengue collaborator networks in hyper-endemic communities.

Article source:http://en.vietnamplus.vn/ben-tre-872-cases-of-dengue-fever-recorded-in-six-months/95036.vnp

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