Another foreigner infected with Zika virus in Vietnam

This afternoon (September 16), the Ministry of Health informed about the latest case of a Taiwanese (Chinese) citizen infected with Zika virus after a period of stay in Tra Vinh province.

Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine Tran Dac Phu said: on September 13, this unit received information from the Taiwan (China) International Health Regulations Focal Point, which has just announced the recording of a 63-year-old Taiwanese (China) man infected with Zika virus after attending his son's wedding in Vietnam between August 28 and September 4.

Specifically: On September 6, the patient had symptoms of fever, swollen lymph nodes and headache. The patient was hospitalized in Taiwan (China) on September 8. Test results showed that the patient's urine sample was positive and serum sample was negative for Zika virus.

Ms. Tang Thi Yen Phuong - the patient's daughter-in-law in Vietnam said that the patient's name is Truong Thuy Minh, Taiwanese, 63 years old. Mr. Minh attended his son's wedding and stayed at Duy Tung Hotel, Duyen Hai town, Tra Vinh province during the above mentioned time period.

To proactively deploy measures to respond to and prevent the Zika virus from spreading widely in the community, the Department of Preventive Medicine requested the Department of Health of Tra Vinh province to direct relevant units in the province to urgently organize investigations and verify outbreaks.

In addition, the above unit needs to investigate disease vectors in the area where the Taiwanese (Chinese) patient stayed during his stay in Tra Vinh as well as surrounding areas to promptly detect suspected cases, take samples and send them to the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City for definitive diagnosis, and at the same time deploy measures to handle the outbreak.

The Department of Health of Tra Vinh province needs to effectively communicate the prevention of Zika virus and dengue fever on the mass media system in the province, and at the same time continue to promote the movement of people to kill mosquitoes and larvae themselves to prevent Zika and dengue fever in the area.

Previously, on September 5, this female patient had symptoms of headache and rash. On September 8, the patient arrived in Japan and on September 9, went to Tokyo for a medical examination, tested positive for Zika virus, and was promptly treated and isolated there.

Upon receiving information about this case, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health contacted the National Focal Point of the Japan International Health Regulations to request detailed information and the patient's permanent residence in Vietnam to serve the monitoring and investigation of the outbreak./.

According to VOV