Southeast Asian countries are intensifying their response to dengue fever, with Thailand having nearly 40000 confirmed cases so far this year
The recent report released by the World Health Organization shows that dengue fever cases have continued to increase in Southeast Asian countries since the beginning of this year. The number of dengue fever cases in countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, and the Philippines has significantly increased compared to the same period last year, posing challenges to the public health systems of regional countries.
An official from the Department of Disease Control and prevention of the Ministry of health of Thailand revealed on July 23 that since the beginning of the year, nearly 40000 cases of dengue fever have been confirmed in the country, with more than 40 deaths. Thailand's Center for Disease Control has warned that this year will be a grim year for the dengue fever epidemic. Singapore has now reported more than 4700 cases of dengue fever. Singapore's National Environment Agency said that due to the surge in the number of Aedes mosquitoes, Singapore may have an outbreak of dengue fever from July to August. Vietnam's Ministry of Health recently reported that nearly 40000 cases of dengue fever were confirmed in the country in the first half of this year. At present, Vietnam has just entered the season of high incidence of dengue fever, and the epidemic is spreading rapidly in the northern part of the country, including the capital Hanoi.
Since the beginning of this year, nearly 64000 cases of dengue fever have been confirmed in Malaysia, an increase of 129.2 per cent compared with the same period last year. There have been more than 72000 cases of dengue fever in the Philippines. There have been more than 35000 cases of dengue fever in Indonesia. There have been more than 11000 cases of dengue fever in Laos. Cambodia has nearly 4700 cases of dengue fever in the first half of the year.
Dengue fever is an acute infectious disease caused by dengue virus. It is mainly transmitted by mosquito vectors and is mostly prevalent in tropical and subtropical regions. Typical symptoms include persistent fever, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, etc. In severe cases, it can cause death.
Rabindra, head of the World Health Organization's representative offices in Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore, believes that global climate change may lead to longer warm seasons and higher temperatures, which will accelerate the reproduction and spread of disease vectors. Rabindra said that in the case of drought, insufficient water supply makes people have to store more water, if the storage method is not appropriate, it is easy to breed mosquitoes. At the same time, poor waste management in some countries also provides conditions for mosquitoes to breed.
To curb the spread of dengue fever, Southeast Asian countries have taken a variety of measures. The Ministry of Health of Malaysia has launched the "Malaysia One Hour Clean Campaign" and "Aedes Mosquito Elimination Cooperation Program" to encourage people, institutions and communities to participate in clean environment activities to reduce the breeding of Aedes mosquitoes. Cambodia's Ministry of Health has issued guidelines for individuals and authorities at all levels to work together to prevent the spread of dengue fever, and has distributed mosquito nets, repellents and other items to the population. The ministries of health of the Philippines, Indonesia and other countries have stepped up publicity to spread prevention knowledge to the public.
At the Asian Dengue Summit held in June this year, experts and epidemic prevention personnel from many countries, including ASEAN countries, discussed the prevention and control of dengue fever and put forward relevant guidelines. Sayaken, chairman of the summit and a tropical disease research expert at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, said that dengue fever is a public health problem and everyone must participate in the response and pay more attention. To achieve the World Health Organization's goal of reducing dengue deaths to zero by 2030, cooperation across all sectors is essential.