CHIANG RAI / MAE CHAN DISTRICT 160 in hospital with dengue fever
CHIANG RAI / MAE CHAN DISTRICT OUTBREAK
160 in hospital with dengue fever
SUBIN KHEUNKAEW
Chiang Rai _ An outbreak of dengue fever has hit a tambon in Mae Chan district where around 160 ethnic hilltribe villagers have been hospitalised with the illness.
Doctors said blood tests had confirmed that the villagers from tambon Mae Rai were suffering from the mosquito-borne viral disease.
Seven critically ill patients have been transferred from the district hospital to the provincial hospital for treatment, while many new cases arrived with symptoms of the disease at the district hospital yesterday.
All 500 houses in the tambon were fogged with pesticide yesterday.
Somchai Banchapol, a member of the tambon administration organisation blamed the rapid spread of the disease on poor awareness by the villagers.
He said they were Akha people, who, he claimed, were mostly poor and illiterate.
''All families agreed to pay the TAO 30 baht each to buy pest killers.
''We sprayed the chemicals throughout the village at 3 o'clock this afternoon,'' said Mr Somchai.
He said villagers have agreed to cooperate in a campaign to destroy the breeding grounds of mosquitoes, such as pools of stagnant water.
''Though a bit late, the people are now fully aware of the danger and doing all they can to prevent the situation from worsening,'' he said.
Bangkok Post
