Alarm as dengue fever cases rise in SE Asia*

08 Jul 2007 09:56:25 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Ho Binh Minh

HANOI, July 8 (Reuters) - Vietnam and Malaysia have raised concerns over
the spread of dengue fever, which has killed hundreds in Southeast Asia
and infected tens of thousands this year.

Warmer weather and heavy rains have helped the mosquito-borne virus
spread through the region, with a Malaysian official saying the epidemic
could get worse because of global warming.

"It is partly due to global warming. We are going to see a rise in
vector-borne and water-borne diseases," Ramlee Rahmat, deputy
director-general of health, was quoted as saying in the New Straits
Times on Saturday.

Vietnam's health minister said he was worried about the spreading
outbreak, citing 27 deaths this year and a jump in the number of cases.

"The risk of the dengue epidemic outbreak in southern and central
provinces is very high in the coming time," Health Minister Tran Thi
Trung Chien told the Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper.

Some experts have said 2007 could be the worst year on record for the
disease, which is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

There is no treatment for dengue, which can cause severe fever,
headaches, rashes and muscle and joint pain. A more severe form can
cause haemorrhagic fever.

Dengue infected 24,255 Vietnamese in the first half of this year, up 23
percent from a year earlier, and 19,000 of them live in southern
provinces, Chien said.

The Health Ministry had also sought government approval to include
dengue prevention in a national programme that targets social, dangerous
diseases along with HIV/AIDS for the period until 2010, Chien said.

EPIDEMIC

Last month, Cambodia appealed for international help to fight dengue,
which has killed more children early in this year's wet season than in
all of the last.

In Malaysia, 1,044 cases were reported last week, topping the 1,000 mark
for the second time in a month, signalling an epidemic, the New Straits
Times said.

The disease has so far claimed 56 lives in Malaysia, compared with 46
deaths in the first half of 2006.

In Indonesia, where concerns over bird flu more frequently grab
headlines, dengue saw a dramatic peak earlier this year after much of
the Jakarta area was flooded.

By the end of June, there had been 93,352 cases and 998 deaths this
year, according to Indonesian Health Ministry data given to Reuters on
Saturday. In January, 298 people died, falling to nine in June after the
end of the rainy season.

"Generally, the trend of cases in those months is decreasing but still
high," said Sholah Imari, head of a ministry team tacking dengue,
referring to the January-June cases.

In Singapore, the government has been waging a battle against the Aedes
mosquito, running a sweeping education campaign to urge residents to
eliminate standing water, which the mosquitos use to breed.

Despite the efforts, hundreds of new infections have been reported
weekly since May.

Earlier this month, the World Health Organisation said rising
temperatures had driven a surge in dengue fever cases in Asia.

In Singapore, the mean annual temperature rose to 28.4 degrees Celsius
(83 degrees Fahrenheit) in 1998 from 26.9 Celsius in 1978, contributing
to a more than 10-fold increase in dengue cases over the two decades.
(Additional reporting by Syed Azman in Kuala Lumpur and Telly Natalia in
Jakarta)