Dengue virus infection in Viet Nam : tip of the iceberg / Hoang Lan Phuong, Peter J. de Vries, Khoa T.D. Thai, Tran T. Thanh Nga, Le Q. Hung, Phan T. Giao, Tran Q. Brinh, Nguyen V. Nam, Piet A. Kager

Dengue is highly endemic in Binh Thuan province, southern Viet Nam. To quantify the dengue- attributable disease burden in Binh Thuan, data from different sources was compiled. In 2003, 688 220 patients consulted 112 public primary health facilities. A total of 86 449 patients had fever, of whom 7399 (8.6%, 95% CI 8.4-8 were booked without classifying diagnosis; this corresponds to 7.7 per 100 person years. Serological diagnosis confirmed that dengue contributed to approximately one quarter of all undifferentiated fevers presented to the public primary health facilities. The annual incidence of acute primary and secondary dengue among the total population was substantially higher and estimated to range from 5.5 to 11.1 per 100 person years. The number of notified cases of dengue in 2003 was only 527 cases, less than 1% of the total incidence of dengue.

Nursing.