Lao health officials and medical staff at hospitals across the country, are endeavouring to combat the increasing number of dengue fever cases in 2019.

Many hospitals in the capital of Vientiane have converted corridors and meeting rooms into wards due to a lack of space to treat patients, and some facilities have even requested additional beds from the public to handle the growing number of dengue patients, local daily Vientiane Times reported on Friday.

On Wednesday, a total of 10,778 people had been diagnosed with dengue fever nationwide, and 25 have died since the beginning of 2019, according to a report by Lao Ministry of Health’s Communicable Disease Control Department.

Deputy Director General of Setthathirath Hospital in Vientiane, Khamla Choumlivong told Lao media on Thursday that health authorities acknowledged that the dengue fever outbreak is higher in 2019 and increased numbers of patients are receiving treatment for the potentially fatal virus.

Keep reading

The post Laos combating dengue fever first appeared on Open Development Mekong.

Health experts from across the country met in Vientiane on January 26 to discuss the interventions undertaken and lessons learnt over the past year in an effort to plan the fight against dengue in 2017. Within the third week of January this year there have been a total of 235 reported dengue cases with no deaths. These numbers are of concern as dengue cases are already at an epidemic level with most of the cases from this reporting, a health expert said. During the meeting, participants reported on the success of their activities in the fight against dengue and daily dengue surveillance reviews which supported early case detection and rapid response. Laboratory data on circulating dengue serotypes was routinely reviewed by the surveillance teams and refresher training was provided on appropriate clinical case management in high risk provinces.

Keep reading

The post National meeting reviews dengue control first appeared on Open Development Mekong.