The Danang Municipal Preventive Health Centre reports that there have been more than 2,100 local cases of infection, including one fatality, a fivefold increase from last year. Twenty percent of the city’s wards have dengue patients.

The municipal health department is trying to clean up the ‘hot spots’ and will spray chemicals to prevent the disease on a large scale.

A similar outbreak is occurring in Quang Nam province, where nearly 1,100 people have been infected. Adults are more likely to catch the disease than children.

Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City has had over 4,780 cases of dengue so far this year.

Dr Binh of the city’s Cho Ray hospital says the disease is more severe in adults than in children.

The Ministry of Health says dengue virus type D1 accounts for 74 percent of the cases nationwide. It predicts that the epidemic will continue into November with many complications, and is asking all localities to take urgent steps to curb the spread of the disease.