124 children in Bac Ninh infected with pork tapeworm after 2 days of testing in Hanoi
By the morning of March 17, more than 1,500 children in Thanh Khuong commune had their samples taken for testing, of which 124 children tested positive for pork tapeworm.
On the morning of March 17, Sunday, many parents from Bac Ninh continued to take their children to the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases and the Central Institute of Malaria, Parasitology and Entomology in Hanoi for examination and testing for pork tapeworm.
Doctor Vu Minh Dien, Quality Management Department of the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, said that by 9am this morning, more than 100 children had been tested, bringing the total number of children coming to the hospital for testing in the past few days to more than 800. The hospital continues to increase its staff to receive, test and return records to patients.
On March 15, 44 cases were confirmed positive for pork tapeworm at this hospital. The remaining cases are still awaiting results because many parents requested additional tests.
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The children were taken to the Central Institute of Malaria - Parasitology - Entomology for tapeworm testing on the afternoon of March 16. Photo:Duong Tam |
At the Central Institute of Malaria, Parasitology and Entomology, 160 children came for examination this morning. On March 16, nearly 700 children came for testing. The cumulative results from March 15-16 at this institute showed that 75 children tested positive for pork tapeworm.
Previously, from March 12-14, the two institutes also announced the test results of 5 children in Thanh Khuong commune positive for pork tapeworm.
To date, the total number of cases positive for pork tapeworm in Thuan Thanh district is 124. This is not the final number, because the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases still has more than 500 children without test results.
On the morning of March 17, Director of the Bac Ninh Department of Health To Mai Hoa said that the province will coordinate with relevant agencies to organize testing and support free pork tapeworm testing costs for students of 19 kindergartens in Thuan Thanh district. The cost of pork tapeworm testing ranges from 700,000 to 1 million VND per test.
Bac Ninh health sector will organize on-site sampling of children in some kindergartens suspected of being infected with tapeworms. All blood samples will then be sent to the leading hospital for testing.
In early March, the Thanh Khuong kindergarten kitchen was discovered to have used dirty meat for cooking, causing outrage among parents. The school principal was suspended from work for 15 days. Thousands of parents, worried about their children's health, took their children to Hanoi for examination, causing hospitals to be overloaded in recent days. As of March 15, 57 children had been tested for pork tapeworm infection, and the hospital is still conducting tests.
The cause of the children's tapeworm infection is currently unknown. The health sector will conduct an epidemiological investigation to determine the cause.
Pork tapeworm is spread through contaminated food, raw vegetables and enters the human body if eaten uncooked. Current treatment regimen kills tapeworms in one day and tapeworm eggs in two weeks.
