Thirty cases of dengue fever and 18 suspected cases have been
found since September in East China's Fujian Province.
The 30 reported cases include four cases from outside the area.
The others were infected locally. So far, there have been no deaths
since the first outside case was found on September 9, according to
a bulletin issued on Thursday by the Health Department of the
Fujian Provincial Government.
Sixteen patients are recovered and have been released from
hospital.
Among the four outside cases, it has been proved that three were
infected when travelling: two in the Philippines and one in
Cambodia.
All the patients are undergoing medical treatment in designated
hospitals, said an anonymous senior official with the
department.
Two hospitals have been appointed to offer special treatment to
the dengue patients in Fuzhou, capital of the province.
The department has laid out a plan on the prevention and
treatment of the fever, stipulating the relevant hospitals should
report disease updates to superior departments through the
Internet.
To stop the disease spreading to the province from abroad,
quarantine and inspection stations have been requested to enhance
sanitation supervision for ships, airplanes and containers coming
from regions subject to dengue fever.
Dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease, has become an
international public health concern since it broke out in Asian
countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia and Sri Lanka in
recent years, killing hundreds there.
Statistics from the World Health Organization show that more
than 100 countries and regions suffer from dengue fever, which
claims about 24,000 people around the world each year.
Infected patients often show symptoms such as fever, headaches,
bone or joint and muscular pains and rashes.
Because the disease has been rare in most regions of Fujian in
the past few years, many doctors are not familiar with the symptoms
of the disease. This led to wrong diagnoses when the disease first
appeared, said an emergency statement about dengue issued last
month by the province's Health Department.
Experts said that no vaccine is available for dengue at present.
The most effective way to prevent the disease is to wipe out
mosquitoes.
The Fujian government has taken measures to strengthen people's
awareness of the disease and organized several mass activities to
kill mosquitoes in people's residential quarters since last
month.
Due to the province's frequent communications with Southeast
Asian areas, as well as its similar climatic and geographic
conditions in tropical and sub-tropical environments which are
suitable for mosquitoes, Fujian is considered a risky area where
the disease will enter and spread.
In 1999, the fever spread in several cities of the province, and
a few outside cases were found in 2000.
Also, there have been several dengue fever cases in coastal
provinces such as Guangdong, as well as Taiwan, in recent
years.
(China Daily October 16, 2004)