Climate Variability and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever in Hanoi, Viet Nam, During 2008 to 2015.

Dengue fever/dengue hemorrhagic fever (DF/DHF) has been an important public health challenge in Viet Nam and worldwide. This study was implemented in 2016-2017 using retrospective secondary data to explore associations between monthly DF/DHF cases and climate variables during 2008 to 2015. There were 48 175 DF/DHF cases reported, and the highest number of cases occurred in November. There were significant correlations between monthly DF/DHF cases with monthly mean of evaporation ( r = 0.236, P < .05), monthly relative humidity ( r = -0.358, P < .05), and monthly total hours of sunshine ( r = 0.389, P < .05). The results showed significant correlation in lag models but did not find direct correlations between monthly DF/DHF cases and monthly average rainfall and temperature. The study recommended that health staff in Hanoi should monitor DF/DHF cases at the beginning of epidemic period, starting from May, and apply timely prevention and intervention measures to avoid the spreading of the disease in the following months. A larger scale study for a longer period of time and adjusting for other potential influencing factors could better describe the correlations, modelling/projection, and developing an early warning system for the disease, which is important under the impacts of climate change and climate variability.

Prevalence of Smoking and Associated Factors: Evidence From the CHILILAB Demographic Surveillance System in Vietnam.

This study analyzed secondary data from Chi Linh Health and Demographic Surveillance System (CHILILAB) database to identify smoking prevalence and associated demographic factors. Data were extracted from the database of the CHILILAB 2016, which included information on individual smoking behaviors, as well as individual and household demographic data. Descriptive and binary logistic regression analyses were performed with significance level of 0.05. The smoking prevalences were 34.7%, 0.9%, and 16.1% for men, women, and both genders, respectively. A total of 78.2% of current smokers smoked daily inside their houses. Lower smoking status was associated with younger age, being student, rich, and/or single. Future efforts should not only spend on further reduction of smoking rate in Chi Linh Town but should also pay special attention on reducing the prevalence of in-home smoking. This will help to decrease the risk of nonsmokers being exposed to secondhand smoke in their home environment.