Eighty eight percent of the victims were peopleaged under 15 years, according to the department.
Thach Minh Duc, deputy head of the dengue feverdivision at the Can Tho Children’s Hospital, said: “The hospital received 200patients this month. The disease is expected to spread further.”
The downtown area is among the worst affected,with Ninh Kieu district accounting for 25 cases and O Mon for 32, he said.
The department said the southern region isseverely affected in the rainy season. There have been four deaths in thecountry in the first six months out of 20,552 cases.
In Can Tho, the number of cases has decreased by41.4 percent this year, according to the department.
Huynh Minh Truc, Director of the city’sPreventive Medicine Centre, said unhygienic living conditions are the majorcause for the spread of dengue in Can Tho and its neighbouring areas.
Besides, local authorities do not educate orwarn the public about it, he said.
The city has failed to clean up hotspots likevacant lands where wastewater stagnates, he said.
The department has urged health authorities inother cities and provinces to carry out prevention activities on ASEAN DengueDay, June 15.
Can Tho authorities plan to set up teams ofhealth workers who will supervise activities to combat the disease in key areastogether with their counterparts from Mekong Delta provinces.
It includes campaigns to destroy mosquitoes andtheir larvae especially in hotspots.
Nguyen Trung Nghia, deputy director of thedepartment, said: “We are focusing on completely clearing infection hotspots ofdengue-causing mosquitoes.”-VNS/VNA