Statistics from the Ministry of Health show that so far this year, an estimated 4,300 children across the country have contracted dengue fever, and 68 of them have died of dengue hemorrhagic fever—the lethal form of this mosquito-borne disease.
The death rate among children sickened by dengue is roughly half of the fatality rate during the same period last year, according to health officials.
“If we compare the situation with last year, we are doing better this year,” said Mam Bunheng, secretary of state for the Health Ministry. “The management of the program is going well.”
In Siem Reap province, where a significant outbreak of dengue fever occurred two years ago, health officials say that the lower numbers are certainly welcome news.
“This year we are seeing about five or six cases a month of dengue in our hospital,” said Ngoun Chan Theaktra, medical director of Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap, where a good portion of patients from surrounding provinces come for treatment. “We have not seen an increase in the past couple of years like we did in 2003.”
Mam Bunheng said that the lower figures are testament to ongoing dengue prevention campaigns, including using insecticides to kill mosquitoes and larvae, and educating Cambodian parents on how best to protect their youngsters from the disease-carrying insects.
But health officials say the disease, also known as break-bone fever and for which no antiviral treatment or vaccine exists, remains a significant concern.
“Right now, we observe the numbers go down, but it’s still a problem,” said Ngan Chan Tha, deputy director of the National Malaria Center and manager of its dengue control program. “By the end of the year, we hope that the number of cases will continue to drop.”
This year, Banteay Meanchey province has been the hardest hit by the black-and-white striped mosquitoes that spread dengue, said Ngan Chan Tha. Since the primary weapon against the viral disease is to kill the mosquito larvae in the stagnant water where they breed, health workers distributed the larvicide Abate through the region, as well as in urban areas such as Phnom Penh and Kompong Cham town, from May through July, he added.
Unlike the malaria-carrying insect that strikes after dark, the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits dengue is most active in the early morning and late afternoon, making the disease tricky to fight. The best prevention is to reduce mosquito-breeding habitats.
According to the World Health Organization, children have become the most common victims of the lethal form of dengue in Southeast Asia, where its prevalence has increased dramatically in recent decades, making the disease an international public-health concern.
Public health experts say that Type 4 dengue, which tends to be the most lethal, commonly takes hold of children younger than seven. Epidemiologists say they cannot really explain why youngsters contract the Type 4 strain more readily.
Hot and wet weather provides ideal conditions for the virus, which puts the peak season for dengue in Cambodia at the height of the rainy season from May through August.
Experts believe that the increasingly mobile population traveling by cars, airplanes and other vehicles that can harbor infected bugs contribute to the spread of the disease from one region of the country to the next.
Dengue symptoms include high fever, bone pain, headache, nausea and general weakness. The hemorrhagic form also involves high fever, liver enlargement and as the disease turns lethal, circulatory failure when plasma in the blood leaks from capillary veins into body tissue.
Homeowners can carry out preventive measures on their own. They can inspect gutters, flower pots, air-conditioner trays and water containers to ensure no water stagnates and can be a breeding site for mosquitoes. Trash piles also attract the insects, according to Ngan Chan Tha.
“We are encouraging people to clean their environment to protect themselves against dengue,” he said.
