Vietnam reports over 170,000 dengue cases in 10 months, up 26% YoY, as outbreak patterns shift

The figures were announced by Hoang Minh Duc, director of the Vietnam Administration of Disease Prevention under the Ministry of Health, at the Dengue Summit 2026 held in Hanoi on Friday.

The event was jointly organized by the agency, Takeda Vietnam, a local affiliate of Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, and other partners, attracting more than 700 delegates from home and abroad.

Compared with the same period last year, the number of dengue cases nationwide in the first 10 months of 2026 increased by 26 percent year on year, the Vietnam News Agency quoted Duc as saying.

Of the over 170,600 cases, the southern region accounted for 66.8 percent, followed by the Central Highlands at 17.5 percent, the central part at 9.8 percent and the northern region at 5.9 percent.

Despite years of efforts and substantial resources devoted to dengue prevention and control, the disease remains a major public health challenge, Duc said.

Since 1998, the health sector has implemented various measures, including monitoring mosquito and larval indices, tracking mosquito densities and applying forecasting software based on epidemiological, virological and serological indicators.

However, the persistently high number of infections and deaths calls for a reassessment of existing prevention measures and the adoption of new approaches to improve disease control, he said.

"Alongside measures to control disease-transmitting vectors, vaccines are also considered an important tool in preventive healthcare," Duc stressed.

Dengue no longer follows clear seasonal patterns

Nguyen Van Kinh, former director of the Hanoi-based National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, said dengue remained a major public health burden in Vietnam and could continue to pose a challenge for many years.

Following the 2022 outbreak, the number of cases continued to rise significantly, while the disease no longer showed clear seasonal or cyclical patterns as it had in the past, he warned.

Climate change is among the factors contributing to this shift, as changes in rainfall create more favorable conditions for disease-carrying mosquitoes to breed.

Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes typically lay eggs in stagnant water, including rainwater collected in household containers.

The clinical course of dengue is also complex, depending on patients' immune responses, age and underlying medical conditions, Kinh said.

Completely eliminating mosquitoes and their larvae is difficult, and as long as the dengue virus and the mosquitoes that transmit it remain present, the risk of further outbreaks persists.

No specific drug to treat dengue

There is currently no specific drug to treat dengue fever, so treatment mainly focuses on controlling symptoms, closely monitoring patients and promptly addressing complications, particularly shock, Kinh said.

Typical symptoms of dengue fever include a high fever lasting two to seven days, accompanied by signs of hemorrhage such as petechial spots, bleeding from the gums or nose, bruising, and abnormal vaginal bleeding in pubertal girls.

The key objective is to prevent patients' conditions from deteriorating, help them recover from shock and support their recovery.

Kinh expressed hope that vaccines, as one of the available preventive tools, could help improve dengue control over time.

At the summit, experts also updated participants on new recommendations for dengue diagnosis and treatment, with the aim of promoting a more comprehensive approach to disease management encompassing epidemiological surveillance, public communication, outbreak monitoring, diagnosis, treatment and patient care.