Dengue fever outbreak hits Asia

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HANOI, Oct 27 (Agencies): The worst outbreak of dengue fever in years has hit Southeast Asia, prompting the World Health Organisation 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.