Spraying to kill mosquito larvae

According to Director of the centre Nguyen Tri Dung, the infections were reported in 13 out of 24 districts. Of which, Binh Thanh district saw the largest number of seven cases, followed by Districts 2 and 9 with four cases each.

Meanwhile, the number of dengue cases in the city is on a downward trend thanks to drastic measures taken by the municipal authorities. The city has recorded 15,874 dengue cases so far this year, up 10 percent year-on-year.

Efforts to prevent the disease caused by Zika virus have contributed to pulling dengue cases down, Dung said, adding that if preventive measures are maintained, the city is likely to reduce dengue infections to last year’s level or even lower than that.

The municipal Health Department has launched activities to clean the environment and kill mosquito larvae in wards and communes, especially in high-risk areas.

Scanning campaigns to early detect Zika virus infections have been conducted, targeting pregnancies and women in the reproductive age.

Environmental cleaning will be continued until December 30 as part of efforts to effectively prevent the Zika virus and dengue fever from spreading widely in the city.

The Zika virus is transmitted to humans primarily through Aedes aegypty mosquito bites and sexual intercourse.

The symptoms of Zika infection include fever, conjunctivitis, headaches and muscle pains. Zika infection during pregnancy may lead to microcephaly in children, which is responsible for incomplete brain development and an unusually small head.

A vaccine for the Zika virus has yet to be discovered.

VNA