Ministry of Health issues treatment regimen for seasonal flu

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Xuyen has just signed a decision to issue guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of seasonal flu applicable to all public and private medical facilities.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Xuyen has just signed a decision to issue guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of seasonal flu applicable to all public and private medical facilities.

According to this guideline, a confirmed case of seasonal influenza usually has a fever above 38 degrees Celsius, body aches and one of the following respiratory symptoms: sore throat, sneezing, stuffy nose, runny nose, cough, difficulty breathing, etc. At the same time, there must be a positive test for influenza virus using RT-PCR or real-time RT-PCR or virus culture for specimens such as throat swabs, pharyngeal swabs, and bronchial swabs.

Children 6 months – 8 years old, elderly people over 65 years old should get flu vaccination every year
(Illustration)

In Vietnam, the common viruses that cause seasonal flu are influenza A/H3N2, A/H1N1 and influenza B. This is an acute respiratory infection caused by influenza virus, transmitted directly from sick people to healthy people through small droplets of saliva when talking, coughing, or sneezing. The disease can cause severe pneumonia, multiple organ failure leading to death. Therefore, patients with influenza must be isolated and promptly notified to preventive health agencies. After being discharged from the hospital, patients must be isolated at home for up to 7 days from the onset of symptoms.

The Ministry of Health recommends that groups at risk of influenza infection such as children from 6 months to 8 years old; people with chronic diseases, people over 65 years old... should be vaccinated against influenza annually. In addition, preventive treatment (10 days) with the antiviral drug Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) can be given to people at high risk of influenza complications who have been in contact with people with influenza.

According to Dan Tri