Viet Nam seeks comprehensive strategy for effective dengue control

Viet Nam: One of the world's hotspots of dengue

Dengue has been listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the top 10 global health threats requiring urgent action. 

Viet Nam has one of the highest incidence rates in Southeast Asia. Each year, the country records more than one hundred thousand of dengue cases. In 2022, the number of cases nearly reached 370,000 – the highest level ever recorded. 

From January to October 2025, Viet Nam reported 110,503 dengue cases and 23 deaths, an increase of 16.8 percent in case numbers and two additional deaths compared with the same period in 2024.

Recent epidemiological trends show that dengue is becoming more complex. 

According to a presentation by Head of Infectious Disease Control under the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology Ngu Duy Nghia, dengue incidence per 100,000 population is among the highest of all infectious diseases. 

Currently, the disease is circulating in many regions across the country: mainly in the South, followed by the North, Central and Central Highlands regions. 

The age distribution has also shifted significantly: in the South, the proportion of patients aged over 15 increased from 18 percent (1999) to 53 percent (2022), confirming that dengue is a risk to all age groups, not only children.

Multi-sectoral collaboration: A strong foundation for dengue control in Viet Nam

Given dengue's unpredictability and the lack of a specific antiviral treatment, Professor Vu Sinh Nam – Senior Advisor on Dengue, National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology and General Secretary of the Viet Nam Association of Preventive Medicine – stressed that Viet Nam can only control dengue effectively by moving from passive response to proactive prevention using a combination of integrated measures.

According to WHO guidance, this proactive strategy must be comprehensive: encompassing vector control, epidemiological surveillance, behavior-change communication, standardized clinical management, and vaccination as part of proactive prevention. A sustained combination of these elements, he noted, will reduce outbreak risk and prevent severe cases in the community.

At the summit, Mr. Benjamin Ping, General Manager of Takeda Viet Nam, shared: "Whilst dengue awareness is high, our research suggests that the general public may not fully understand the risk and severity associated with dengue. 

From a risk perspective, Viet Nam records around 100,000 dengue cases every year. Dengue occurs year round, across the country from south to north, and affects all age groups - children, adults and the elderly. From a severity perspective, dengue can lead to hospitalization, during which parents may have to miss work and children could miss school for an extended period. 

He also highlighted that the burden of dengue goes beyond health and well-being and can create a substantial financial and economic strain on families and on society as a whole.

With no specific treatment available for dengue today, prevention is critical. This includes vector control, effective risk communication, robust surveillance and access to dengue vaccination which is now available in Viet Nam. Takeda's dengue vaccine has been recommended by the WHO for use in countries with a high disease burden. This vaccine has been approved in 41 countries, with more than 21 million doses distributed globally.

Experts at the summit agreed that effective dengue control requires comprehensive efforts across preventive health, clinical care, communication, and community engagement to reduce disease burden.

These efforts align toward shared objectives: reducing case numbers, lowering mortality, preventing large-scale outbreaks, and strengthening community participation in prevention. To achieve these goals, proactive prevention, including vaccination, is playing an increasingly important role in reducing disease burden and helping the health system respond more effectively to potential outbreaks.

The Summit concluded with a unified direction for action, reflecting the close collaboration among stakeholders and a strong commitment to advancing scientific progress and integrated approaches that will help Viet Nam strengthen the effectiveness of its dengue-control efforts.