Vietnam health officials reported about 32 percent of their annual total of dengue fever cases in October alone, making it the most sever month in 2015, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) update.
As of 31 October 2015, there were 58,633 cases of dengue, including 42 deaths, reported in 52 out of 63 provinces in VietNam.
In October alone, there were 18,754 cases reported including 10 deaths.
Vietnamese news source, Tuoi Tre News, the total for the first 11 months of the year is approximately 62,000.
Based on predictions by NOAA, this year could be the strongest El Niño, which would affect Vietnam, Laos, Cambodian, Philippine, Malaysia and other countries in the region.
Diseases like dengue fever could increase as a result of warming and the prime condition for the development of the dengue vector, the Aedes mosquito.
Dengue Fever occurs throughout Vietnam, with the greatest number of cases in the southern part of the country. Dengue Fever is characterized by acute onset of high fever, intense headache, and severe aches and pains in the muscles and joints lasting several days to a week or more. Fever may be accompanied by a rash. Fatigue may linger for weeks. The most severe clinical form is Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF).
According to Eliminate Dengue, The first outbreak of dengue was recorded in Vietnam in 1963. Between 1998 and 2010 over 1,000,000 cases were reported. Today dengue is endemic throughout the southern region and central coast, and in large population centers in the north such as Hanoi.
Robert Herriman is a microbiologist and the Editor-in-Chief of Outbreak News Today and the Executive Editor of The Global Dispatch
Follow @bactiman63
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