According to government reports, dengue
fever has killed 321 people in
Vietnam so far. The figure
has risen by more than 50 per
cent since 1997. Tran Hung,
an official in the ministry of
health, said 159,449 people
had contracted the disease,
and southern province
accounts for 80 per cent of
the cases and 95 per cent of
the deaths.
The 12 Mekong Delta
provinces were most severely
hit. Swamps and water tanks
prepared by farmers for use
during the five-month dry
season became an ideal environment for the mosquitoes
to breed. Dengue infects an
estimated 15 million people
each year in the geographic
band around the equator. it
causes joint pains, fever and
serious cases of brain hemorrhage. There is still no vaccine to prevent the disease.
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