Dengue numbers swell

At least 45 people have died from dengue fever this year, and the number of infected cases has jumped to more than 10,000 in Cambodia.

Public health facilities reported 10,282 cases for the first 25 weeks of the year, but data are still not complete, said Ngan Chantha, National Dengue Control Program director. 

It takes about two weeks for the Ministry of Health to collect data, and

the numbers for the first half of 2012 will not be ready until mid-July, he said.

But even the incomplete data shows a severe jump of more than 3,000 cases from week 24 to 25. 

The two rainy weeks saw more dengue cases than the first six months of last year did. 

An advertisement from Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospitals compared the case number with that of the year 2007. 

The severe dengue epidemic in 2007 killed 408 people and saw nearly 40,000 cases. 

The advertisement also alleged that only 25 per cent of families have received larvicide to treat the breeding place of mosquitoes.

However, Ngan Chantha said that the national program plans to distribute double the amount of larvicide applied in 2007, though the program cannot cover every family. 

He also said that the 290 tonnes of larvicide are enough, and controlling the epidemic requires changes in people’s sanitary practices, not more larvicide.

“From my personal perspective, I am very grateful to Kantha Bopha and Dr Richner,” said Ngan Chantha, “but on the government side, we are also making efforts.”