Dengue fever brings travel and health warnings on mainland
Guangdong is the province with the most cases and the most deaths; experts advise the people clear away standing water, where mosquitoes breed, and use clothing to cover up
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 01 October, 2014, 11:54am
UPDATED : Thursday, 02 October, 2014, 6:04am
Alice Yan [email protected]
Dengue fever has prompted alerts across Asia, as this worker in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park sets mosquito traps. Photo: Kyodo
The only way dengue fever is spread is by mosquito bites, so people should take steps to avoid being bitten, thus keeping the epidemic from spreading during the National Day week-long travel period, mainland health experts say.
More than 12,000 cases have been reported to the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), xinhuanet.com reports – about five times as many as last year. Guangdong is the hardest hit province, with all four recorded deaths and 13,449 total cases as of Tuesday, says the provincial Health and Family Planning Commission.
Yin Wenwu, CDC researcher specialising in the disease, was quoted as saying that the public help eradicate mosquito breeding places and, when travelling to southern China and south and southeast Asia, wear long-sleeved clothes and trousers, and apply mosquito repellent to their exposed skin.
Dengue fever is transmitted by mosquitoes infected with one of four dengue viruses, according to the World Health Organisation. It is not transmitted directly from person to person, and symptoms include a mild to high fever, severe headache, muscle and joint pain, and a rash. There is no vaccine or medicine to treat dengue. The prescribed treatment is to rest, drink plenty of fluids and reduce the fever.
Dr Lu Hongzhou, an infectious disease expert at the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre, said although the city hadn’t had any dengue fever cases, they are still closely watching the situation.
“Because of the Golden Week holiday when people travel, we are on guard for people infected outside Shanghai,” Lu told the South China Morning Post. China has two “Golden Week” holidays a year – National Day and Lunar New Year.
Lu says the epidemic seems to be moving northward within China. Yunnan and Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang also have reported dengue fever cases, ranging from three to 145.
He said the rapid proliferation of the disease in Guangzhou is mainly due to more rainy days this year, and more cases being reported in some tropical countries.
Yu Shouyi, a tropical disease expert at Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, said when the first batch of dengue fever patients were reported in June, the authorities didn’t pay attention and many other carriers were not diagnosed.
Killing mosquito larvae by getting rid of standing water is the only effective way to control the dengue fever epidemic, he said. In Guangzhou’s Yuexiu district, which has more dengue fever patients than any other district in the city, the Breteau Index – which measures mosquito density – has been as high as 90. An index of 5 is considered acceptable.
Yu attributes the sharp rise in dengue fever cases over the past month to poor education efforts in mosquito control and public apathy.
“The public didn’t cooperate because people know it’s not fatal, not like Sars,” Yu said. “Dengue fever is not a serious disease, but for old people or people with heart or kidney diseases, it could be serious.”
