Four provinces in northeast Thailand have seen an outbreak in cases of dengue fever since January. So far, a total of 1,199 cases of the mosquito-borne illness have been recorded in Nakhon Ratchasima, Chaiyaphum, Buriram and Surin. The most commonly affected age group are 10 to 14 year old children.
Symptoms of dengue include high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pain and a skin rash. Dengue has gained the nickname “breakbone fever” because of the severe joint pain it can cause. Cases often require hospitalisation and symptoms typically last two to seven days.
The disease is spread by infected mosquitoes. In Thailand, two species can spread dengue fever, the Yellow fever mosquito and the Asian tiger mosquito, both characterised by their black and white stripes.
Yesterday, The Office of Disease Prevention and Control revealed the following case numbers from January 1…
