DENGUE – CAMBODIA: INCREASE, FATAL
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
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Date: Fri 6 Oct 2023
Source: Khmer Times, Xinhua [edited]
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501372310/cambodia-sees-sharp-rise-in-dengue-fever-cases-with-38-deaths-in-first-9-months/
Cambodia had recorded 21 568 dengue fever cases in the first 9 months
of 2023, a significant rise of 184% from 7597 cases over the same
period last year [2022], a health official said on Thursday [5 Oct
2023].
“The disease killed 38 people during the January-September period this
year [2023], up from 14 deaths over the same period last year [2022],”
Leang Rithea, National Dengue Program manager and deputy director of
the National Centre for Parasitology and Malaria Control, told
Xinhua.
With the instruction from Health Minister Chheang Ra, the provincial
health departments across the country have provided Abate, a chemical
substance used to put in water pots to kill larvae, to households and
sprayed insecticide to kill mosquitoes since August [2023], he said.
“We have been working actively with development partners and
organizations to curb an outbreak of dengue fever in the country,” he
added. Dengue fever is a viral disease transmitted through the bite of
an Aedes mosquito, which is a day-biting mosquito.
The disease causes an acute illness that usually follows symptoms such
as headache, high fever of up to 40 deg Celsius, exhaustion, severe
muscle and joint pain, swollen glands, vomiting and rash.
Rithea urged parents to take their sick children to health centres or
state hospitals within 48 hours if they suspected their kids were
infected with a dengue virus. Also, he appealed to households to fill
in puddles around their houses, saying that they are sources of
mosquitoes.
In the Southeast Asian country, the peak of the dengue epidemic period
is in the rainy season from May to October.