Economic boom brings more dengue to Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, June 18 (Reuters) Dengue fever has killed at least 109 children in Cambodia so far this year, a three-fold rise from the same period of 2006, due to early monsoon rains and increasing urbanisation, health officials said today.

''We are worried that more children will get sick as a result of mosquito-borne diseases in the coming rainy season months,'' said Ngan Chantha, director of the Southeast Asian nation's dengue program.

Dengue infections in Cambodia tend to peak in July, August and September, the height of the rainy season, when the mosquitoes that carry the disease breed most rapidly in stagnant pools and ponds.

Construction sites around Phnom Penh, which is enjoying an economic boom, are contributing to the spread because they tend to be strewn with breeding spots such as discarded tyres and broken pots, Ngan Chantha said.

Cambodia's experience with dengue mirrors that of other countries in the region, where scientists are worried that climate change is making the mosquitoes more active.

Dengue typically causes high fever, nausea and intense joint pain. There is no real treatment, apart from rest and rehydration.

In severe cases it can prove fatal.

The Indonesian capital saw a surge in dengue infections earlier this year after much of the Jakarta area was flooded.

REUTERS RN PM1233