Ebola virus from the Philippines threatens Southeast Asia

Seven Filipinos infected with Ebola virus have raised the risk of the deadly disease spreading to the region to an alarming level. Yesterday, August 7, the leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health directed units to focus on stopping the epidemic right at the Tan Son Nhat airport gate.

Measuring body temperature at Tan Son Nhat International Airport gate. Photo: LN

On August 7, Mr. Nguyen Huu Hung - Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health said that, in response to the information that the Ebola virus had spread to the Philippines, the Department had directed medical units in the city to focus on preventing this dangerous epidemic.

“We have asked medical units to develop plans to monitor, detect cases and take preventive and treatment measures when an epidemic occurs in the city,” said Mr. Hung. Following the direction of the Department of Health, on August 7, the International Health Quarantine Center measured the body temperature of all passengers from countries with Ebola outbreaks when entering Tan Son Nhat airport.

Dr. Nguyen Van Sau, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City International Health Quarantine Center, said that for many months now, the monitoring and measuring of body temperatures of passengers arriving at the airport has been carried out seriously. "There are currently 4 body temperature measuring machines and staff on duty 24/7. If we detect a suspected case, we will isolate it and transfer it to the hospital for treatment," Dr. Sau informed.

At the airport, equipment, medicine, protective clothing against epidemics and isolation areas are ready when suspected cases are detected. Meanwhile, hospitals have also been notified to be ready to conduct epidemiological surveillance, record suspected cases of Ebola virus for timely isolation, monitoring and treatment.

According to Dr. Hung, there are currently quite a lot of Filipinos living in Ho Chi Minh City, so the movement between the epidemic area and the city is very large. Therefore, the Department of Health has requested the Ho Chi Minh City Preventive Medicine Center and local hospitals to closely monitor immigrants, especially foreigners coming from epidemic areas or people moving from epidemic areas. "If a suspected case is detected, it is necessary to notify local health authorities and quickly transfer them to the hospital for timely treatment," Dr. Hung advised.

Prepare for epidemic prevention situations

Currently, the Ebola virus has not been recorded in Vietnam, but the Ministry of Health also stated that this is a very dangerous epidemic and should not be taken lightly. Dr. Tran Dac Phu, Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health), said that just one case testing positive for the Ebola virus is considered an outbreak. People with a history of living in/traveling to/coming from an area/country with an epidemic or having close contact with an infected person or an animal infected with the virus within 21 days and having the above symptoms are all identified as suspected cases, need to be isolated, quickly diagnosed and treated promptly and thoroughly, to prevent the spread.

The monitoring guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health detail three scenarios and methods for monitoring Ebola cases from border gates to the community, including monitoring scenarios when no cases have been recorded in Vietnam until an imported case appears and when the epidemic spreads in the community. Measures to implement epidemic prevention for patients, close contacts, and infection prevention at treatment facilities as well as environmental disinfection and treatment are also specifically regulated in this guideline.

According to the Department of Preventive Medicine, this is a dangerous acute infectious disease that can spread quickly and has a high mortality rate (up to 90%). The disease is transmitted from person to person through direct contact with blood, secretions, body parts of infected people, infected animals or contact with environments contaminated with secretions of infected people and animals.

According to Tien phong online