Dengue fever on the rise in Cambodia
There have been around 1,000 more cases of dengue fever reported in Cambodia during the first quarter of 2012 than the same period last year, according to Ministry of Health figures. As of 31 March, eight people had died from the disease and 1,393 were reported as infected, up from four deaths and 339 reported cases in the first quarter of 2011. The figures were released at a dengue fever awareness parade in the Sen Sok district of Phnom Penh in April, where Chor Meng Chuor, director of the National Centre for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control, also announced the distribution of 270 tonnes of insecticide across the country as part of efforts to kill the black and white tiger mosquitoes that spread the disease. “We don’t want to see another year like 2007,” he said, “so this campaign is very important to alert and awaken parents to this.” More than 400 people – mostly children – died from dengue fever in Cambodia in 2007, and the number of reported infections topped 40,000. Mosquitoes tend to lay their eggs in standing water in urban areas, and citizens have been advised to be on the lookout for larvae and dispose of any stagnant water. “Nothing unusual may happen,” said Steve Bjorge, malaria and mosquito-borne disease team leader for the World Health Organization in Phnom Penh, “but it would be prudent to take precautions.”
There have been around 1,000 more cases of dengue fever reported in Cambodia during the first quarter of 2012 than the same period last year, according to Ministry of Health figures. As of 31 March, eight people had died from the disease and 1,393 were reported as infected, up from four deaths and 339 reported cases in the first quarter of 2011. The figures were released at a dengue fever awareness parade in the Sen Sok district of Phnom Penh in April, where Chor Meng Chuor, director of the National Centre for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control, also announced the distribution of 270 tonnes of insecticide across the country as part of efforts to kill the black and white tiger mosquitoes that spread the disease. “We don’t want to see another year like 2007,” he said, “so this campaign is very important to alert and awaken parents to this.” More than 400 people – mostly children – died from dengue fever in Cambodia in 2007, and the number of reported infections topped 40,000. Mosquitoes tend to lay their eggs in standing water in urban areas, and citizens have been advised to be on the lookout for larvae and dispose of any stagnant water. “Nothing unusual may happen,” said Steve Bjorge, malaria and mosquito-borne disease team leader for the World Health Organization in Phnom Penh, “but it would be prudent to take precautions.”