Dengue epidemic rises rapidly in Guangdong
Number of cases in Guangzhou upby a quarter in three days, including two rare deaths, due to continued wet weather and human factors
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 23 September, 2014, 10:12pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 24 September, 2014, 4:34am
Mimi Lau in Guangzhou [email protected]
Nearly 5,200, or 85 per cent, of Guangdong's dengue fever cases this year have been recorded in the capital, Guangzhou. Photo: SCMP Pictures
A deadly outbreak of dengue fever in Guangdong has spiked alarmingly in the last week, with 1,200 cases alone reported in Guangzhou between Saturday and Monday.
In all, the province has reported 6,089 cases this year - or 10 times more than same time last year.
The provincial capital is the hardest-hit area, with 5,190 cases, or 85 per cent of the total, and two deaths as of Monday, according to the Guangdong Provincial Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
Yang Zhicong , deputy chief of the CDC's Guangzhou arm, said the authorities attributed the sudden spike in dengue to imported cases and persistent rainfall in the region.
He also said the refusal of many members of the public and even government bodies to cooperate contributed to the high number. This included Guangzhou Zoo, which refused to let Yang's office monitor mosquitoes inside its premises, according to local media reports.
Yang said the authorities had established 177 monitoring stations for mosquitoes from the Aedes genus known to spread the dengue virus.
The two dengue deaths, both elderly patients, were the first reported in the city for many years, said Yin Zhibiao , head of Guangzhou's Eighth People's Hospital, an infectious disease facility that has admitted 199 patients with dengue fever, 15 of whom were "severely ill".
The China News Service quoted Yin as saying the two deceased patients had high blood pressure and diabetes.
Nearby Foshan had recorded 622 cases, while Zhongshan and Jiangmen were listed as high-risk areas.
In the past few days, the Guangdong authorities have issued mobile phone alerts urging residents to seek medical treatment early to lower the risk of complications or death.
It also called for greater efforts to limit mosquitoes, especially cleaning up pooled water in which the insects breed.
Mosquitoes spread a range of parasitic, viral and bacterial diseases dangerous to human health. Dengue is linked to urbanisation but has a relatively low mortality rate.
Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pain and skin rashes. A very small number of cases lead to life-threatening dengue haemorrhagic fever.
In Hong Kong, the Centre for Health Protection said that as of Monday, the city had confirmed 66 dengue fever cases this year, all of which were imported, mostly from Indonesia and Thailand. One case was imported from the mainland.
A centre spokesman said dengue fever was endemic to parts of Southeast Asia and warned travellers to be on the alert.
Additional reporting by Zhuang Pinghui and Ernest Kao
