The recent news of Channel 3 actor Thrisadee "Por" Sahawong being in a coma for a week due to dengue fever has sparked a public scare about the tropical illness. Mostly overlooked by people in Thailand. The 37 -year-old was referred to Ramathibodi Hospital last Monday and required resuscitation multiple times during the course of the week.While his life hangs by a thread, the public have started to question if dengue fever, also known as dengue haemorrhagic fever is life-threatening and if the mosquito-borne viral infection is preventable. Infection medicine specialist Dr Wadchara pum-pradit urged the public to not break out in a cold sweat because the fatality rate is very low.
"Dengue fever has become a huge health issue because it happened to a public figure like Thrisadee. Unfortunately, his case is severe. But we only are high- lighting minority of cases that involve severe complications. A majority of dengue fever infections do not lead to death," said Dr Wadchara.
According to statistics from the Bureau of Vector Borne Disease under the Ministry of Public Health's Department of Disease Control, this year there were 107,500 Thais infected with the dengue virus, as of last week of this number, 106 died, which accounts for around 0.1% of those affected.
Thailand has seen a sharp increase in the number of dengue cases. In 2014, an estimated 40,000 people caught the disease, 41 of whom died from it.
For better understanding, here are nine important fact and figures on dengue haemorrhagic fever and situations, in Thailand and globally.