Dengue Fever Outbreak Kills Isan Teen Girl

October 6, 2012

With the rainy season ending, health officials in Northeast provinces are still concerned about Dengue Fever, which last month killed an 18-year-old female in Mahasrakham province. A health official reported 200 cases of Dengue Fever in September in their province.

MAHASARAKHAM – October 5, 2012 [PDN]; a health official from Mahasarakham announced that 200 patients were treated for Dengue Fever in the Isan province, including an 18-year-old female who died.

As the rainy season is ending and winter begins, it was announced that a total of 700 patients in the province had been infected by Dengue Fever, said Dr. Parinya Rattanaparinya, the head of the Office of Provincial Public Health in Mahasarakham province.

The doctor warned people to beware of this disease, which is particularly dangerous to children, because the current outbreak of Dengue Fever has the most severe strain of the disease.

The number of patients has made the doctor afraid that Dengue Fever will spread out more, so he has coordinated with the municipality and the local branch of the Ministry of Public Health to spray insecticides to get rid of common house mosquitoes in areas near schools and other high-risk areas.

From January 1, 2012 until the present, there have been 713 patients with Dengue Fever, which works out to a ratio of 74 infected people for every 100,000 in the local population, the doctor said.

The infected patient who died in Amphur Muang was an 18-year-old female, whose level of platelets in her blood dropped drastically, which caused her body to go in shock until she died on September 29.

The district with the highest rate of infection was Muang Mahasarakham, followed in descending order by Payakphumpisai, and Kanthornwichai. The three subgroups of people mostly infected by the disease were between the ages of 5-9, ages10-14, and ages 15-24.

Since there is no “cure” or treatment for Dengue Fever, the best method is prevention. The doctor advised parents with children to take precautions to prevent youngsters from being bitten by infected mosquitoes. The doctor recommended that parents get rid of water sources where the mosquitos breed, such as containers left outdoors, or shallow ponds and drainage areas. They should either drain the water or put Abate sand in the water.

Early symptoms of Dengue Fever can resemble a high flu, which may include a reddish face, tiredness, loss of appetite, and vomiting. If such symptoms last longer than two days, parents should take their sick children to see the doctor urgently.