Subjectively buying medicine, young children hospitalized
The dengue fever situation in Vinh Long is complicated as the number of cases increases, while a part of the population still has a subjective mentality, self-treating when there are signs of fever, increasing the risk of the disease becoming severe.
Ms. Le Kim Hoa, residing in Long Ho commune, said that when her 5-year-old son had a fever, the family initially only bought fever-reducing medicine for him to drink because they thought the disease was common and not too serious.
Seeing that my child's fever had not decreased for a few days, and he was tired, I took him to the doctor for examination, and the doctor diagnosed dengue fever, and he had to be hospitalized for monitoring, the family was very worried when the disease became severe," Ms. Hoa said.
Similarly, Ms. Nguyen Thi Bong, in Nhon Phu commune, said that her niece, who is over 4 years old, was also bought medicine by relatives for her to drink in the early days when she had a fever.
According to Ms. Bong, because she thought it was just a mild fever, the family did not take her to the doctor early. Only when she was very tired and had poor appetite did she take her to the hospital, at which time the doctor requested close monitoring.
Many parents believe that the habit of buying medicine themselves when children have a fever is still common, especially in rural areas, while the knowledge of disease identification is limited, easily ignoring dangerous warning signs.
The health sector recommends that people should not be subjective, and need to take patients to medical facilities when there are suspicious signs to be diagnosed and treated promptly, avoiding dangerous complications.
Increase in both cases and outbreaks
According to Ms. Ho Thi Thu Hang - Director of Vinh Long Department of Health, as of March 29, the whole province recorded 1,678 cases of dengue fever, including 17 severe cases, accounting for about 1%, and no deaths.
Ms. Hang said that the number of cases in 2026 increased 2.79 times compared to the same period in 2025, showing that the epidemic tends to increase rapidly, and needs to be strictly controlled and not subjective.
Regarding the outbreak situation, 33 outbreaks were recorded in the week, an increase of 1.5 times compared to the same period last year, reflecting the risk of spreading still existing in many localities, especially densely populated areas.
Accumulated from the beginning of the year to date, the whole province has detected 1,004 outbreaks, an increase of 3.12 times compared to the same period in 2025, showing that the spread of the epidemic is increasing, and the pressure of prevention and control is increasing.
According to Ms. Hang, the health sector has proposed that localities strengthen the supervision of cases, thoroughly handle outbreaks, especially in areas with high risk of spread, and prevent them from breaking out into large epidemics.
