Ministry Sets Up 24-hour Dengue Fever Hotline

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Ministry sets up 24-hour dengue fever hotline

BANGKOK: -- The Department of Disease Control has set up a 24-hour telephone helpline in the fight against the latest outbreak of dengue fever.

With dengue fever having claimed the lives of 14 people this year, with another 7,000 ill with the mosquito-borne disease, the department has established a helpline on Tel. 0-2590-3333 with information on symptoms of the illness and how to control it.

The issue of dengue fever is close to the heart of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who today revealed that his younger brother had died of the disease, aged 25.

Although the disease is rarely fatal in adults, the prime minister said that a misdiagnosis of his brother's condition had contributed to his untimely death.

In its early stages dengue fever is easy to confuse with ordinary influenza, but within a few days a patient may be experiencing internal haemorrhaging.

--TNA 2005-05-14