Via the Yemen Times: Electricity outages double the spread of Dengue fever in Hodeida. Excerpt:
“Ongoing power outages have doubled the spread of pandemics such as Dengue fever in Hodeida,” Abdulrahman Jar Allah, director of the Public Health Office in Hodeida, told the Yemen Times.
He said that the governorate suffers from severe shortages of medicine used to treat the disease because money used for Dengue fever eradication campaigns has not been paid yet to them.
He pointed out that by Wednesday the death toll of Dengue fever had risen to 15. As of one month ago, 750 were infected in different districts throughout Hodeida.
“Among the deaths are women and children, most of whom died while receiving treatment in hospitals,” he added.
Jar Allah called for the Ministry of Public Health and Doctors Syndicate to take responsibility in combating the disease that has spread widely throughout the governorate.
“So far we aren’t certain that all cases of the disease outbreak are Dengue fever,” he cautioned, stating that “It may be a viral fever that spread from open swamps and sewers.
“The Health Office in Hodeida is establishing a centre to follow up on the spread of the disease and medical and media campaigns will be launched in several districts in the governorate. Affected people will be checked and medicine will be given to them,” he said.
“The Public Health Office and residents are worried that the ongoing spread of the disease will affect other districts,” he concluded.
Mohammed Al-Haj is a 29-year-old man who was infected with the disease a few weeks ago but has since recovered after staying in Al-Amal Private Hospital for a week.
He told the Yemen Times that “the disease has spread significantly, stating that most deaths are in rural areas. Dust and uncovered sewers are the causes of this disease,” he added.
Sources in the Public Health Office asserted previously that 10 people from different districts in the governorate died from Dengue fever, in addition to hundreds infected. The infected are in critical condition.
