Nghe An: Increase in summer diseases

Hundreds of children are hospitalized every day.

In early June, at Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, many parents brought their children to see a doctor and receive treatment for various illnesses. Although the hospital tried to arrange a cool waiting area, due to the summer weather, the large number of people gathered here made the space here hot and stuffy. Doctors, nurses, patients, and relatives were even more tired and exhausted...

Many parents bring their children to Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital for examination and treatment on a hot summer day. Photo: Thanh Chung

Among the large number of people who came to the hospital for examination were Ms. Nguyen Thi M (32 years old, in Vinh city) and her son Tran Van T (4 years old). After the examination, Ms. M said: “My child normally goes to daycare. When I came home in the evening, I saw that he had a fever, then a rash, mouth ulcers, loss of appetite and fussiness. Then, blisters appeared on the palms of his hands and feet… I took him to the hospital for examination and was told by the doctor that he had hand, foot and mouth disease and had to be hospitalized for treatment. It is likely that he was infected at the daycare.”

Information from the Examination Department, Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital: At this time, the department receives 600 - 700 patients per day. The number of hospitalized patients accounts for 1/4 of the total number of patients. Many children come to the clinic in very serious condition... Specialist Doctor 1 Vuong Thi Minh Nguyet - Deputy Head of the Examination Department said: Common diseases during this time are hand, foot and mouth disease, chickenpox, respiratory diseases, pneumonia, bronchitis, otitis media, skin diseases, digestive diseases. The reason for the increase in patients is because the weather this season creates favorable conditions for viruses and intermediate microorganisms to thrive. At this time, the risk of children getting infectious diseases is very high.

Doctors from the Department of Tropical Diseases, Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital examine and treat children with chickenpox. Photo: Thanh Chung

At the Department of Tropical Diseases, Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, in the summer, the number of patients usually fluctuates from 80 to 100 people. At present, the Department is treating 80 patients. Of these, more than 30 children have hand, foot and mouth disease, in addition to children with dengue fever, bacterial meningitis, Japanese encephalitis, whooping cough, chickenpox, and diarrhea caused by Rota virus.

Master, Doctor Vo Manh Hung - Head of the Department of Tropical Diseases recommends: In the summer, families need to pay special attention to disease prevention hygiene; vaccinate children. At home and school, it is necessary to ensure a cool environment, regularly clean with chlorine solutions and soap. In eating and drinking, children need to eat cooked food and drink boiled water, prepare food appropriately; supplement water and fruit for children. To prevent diseases caused by viruses, parents should limit children from going to crowded places, wear masks when going to crowded places.

Parents should also dress their children in loose, sweat-absorbent clothing to avoid causing pneumonia in children. In addition, every family also needs to know how to use air conditioning properly, avoiding using air conditioning that is too cold, causing respiratory diseases in children. After using air conditioning, open the door to let air circulate and push out accumulated viruses and bacteria.

Great risk from many types of epidemics

Staff of Nghe An Center for Disease Control conduct epidemiological surveillance in localities with old dengue outbreaks. Photo: Thanh Chung

This summer, besides the Covid-19 epidemic that is still spreading and causing many people to get sick, in Nghe An dangerous seasonal diseases have reappeared, such as: Dengue fever, hand, foot and mouth disease, diphtheria, Japanese encephalitis... These are dangers, threatening the health and lives of people.

Information from the Nghe An Provincial Center for Disease Control: Dengue fever is an acute infectious disease that can cause an epidemic caused by the dengue virus. The disease is spread by Aedes mosquitoes that bite people infected with the virus and then transmit the disease to healthy people through bites. The two types of Aedes mosquitoes that transmit the disease are scientifically named Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, of which Aedes aegypti is the main…

The disease occurs in all countries in the tropical climate zone. In Vietnam, the disease is very common, in all four regions of the North, Central, South and Central Highlands, including urban and rural areas. The disease occurs year-round but often breaks out into large epidemics during the rainy season, especially in the months of July, August, September, October... In Nghe An, hundreds of cases of dengue fever are still recorded every year. Old outbreaks are often concentrated in localities such as Dien Chau, Nghi Loc, Quynh Luu, Hoang Mai town, Vinh city and Hung Nguyen. In 2020, dengue fever first appeared in the mountainous district of Con Cuong.

Through monitoring, the provincial Center for Disease Control discovered that many localities have a high number of Aedes mosquitoes - the vector index exceeds the epidemic warning threshold and there is a very high risk of dengue fever outbreak. Photo: Thanh Chung

Entering the dengue fever epidemic season this year, Nghe An has recorded 9 cases of dengue fever in 2 localities: Nghi Quang commune (Nghi Loc district) and Quynh Di ward (Hoang Mai town).

Accordingly, in Nghi Quang commune, the first case was detected on May 24, 2022 and so far the whole commune has detected 7 cases. In Quynh Di ward, 01 case of dengue fever was detected on May 28, 2022.

Faced with the risk of dengue fever re-emergence, the Nghe An Provincial Center for Disease Control and local health centers have been strengthening surveillance to detect early outbreak risks; promoting communication activities so that people can implement disease prevention measures such as turning unused water containers upside down, killing mosquito larvae, using mosquito nets to prevent mosquito bites, and spraying chemicals to treat the environment. Through on-site inspections, epidemiological investigations, and environmental monitoring in many localities, the Nghe An Provincial Center for Disease Control discovered that vector indicators in many localities exceeded the epidemic warning threshold and there was a very high risk of dengue fever outbreaks.

People in Quynh Di ward, Hoang Mai town carry out environmental sanitation after a case of dengue fever appeared in the area. Photo: Thanh Chung

In addition to dengue fever, the province also detected 01 positive case of Japanese encephalitis in Thanh Tien commune, Thanh Chuong district on May 25, 2022. Previously, on May 1, 2022, 02 children with diphtheria in Pha Danh commune, Ky Son district were also detected...

Dr. Chu Trong Trang - Deputy Director of Nghe An Center for Disease Control stated: Although these diseases are not new, they are very dangerous and are forecasted to increase in the coming time. Disease prevention and control cannot be subjective; it requires the participation of all localities and people. Localities in the province need to strengthen direction and mobilize departments, branches, organizations, and socio-political organizations to closely coordinate with the health sector to drastically and synchronously deploy prevention and control solutions, effectively prevent outbreaks, and prevent the disease from spreading to the community. All people need to strictly follow recommendations on disease prevention and control to protect their own health and that of the community./.