He made the revelation at the Ministry of Health’s yesterday national online conference on strengthening disease prevention.
At the conference, to clarify the first case of influenza A/H9N2 in Vietnam, Director Hoang Minh Duc said that the first A/H9N2 was a 37 year old man in Tien Giang Province’s Chau Thanh District. Currently, the patient continues to be treated in the negative pressure room of the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases’ Adult Intensive Care Department with follow-up care for sepsis from lung inflammation and influenza A.
Moreover, the man was diagnosed with invasive fungal infection, complications of respiratory failure, pulmonary hemorrhage, stable abdominal hemorrhage, gastrointestinal bleeding, acute kidney injury, and alcoholic cirrhosis. He must be under liver tumor monitoring. Since the man was detected to be infected with the A/H9N2 virus and isolated for treatment, his close contacts are in normal health.
Mr. Hoang Minh Duc also said that the first case of influenza A/H9N2 in the country had underlying diseases such as cirrhosis and diabetes, so the symptoms were more severe.
Influenza A/H9N2 is a low-risk virulent strain that usually causes mild symptoms and does not cause disease in poultry, so it is difficult to detect. To date, there have been no signs or cases of human-to-human transmission of the infection. Human H9N2 infections are generally mild and the virus-related deaths are likely due to an underlying health condition.
Therefore, the medical worker confirmed that the risk of epidemics is very low. At the same time, there is currently no warning information from the World Health Organization about genetic mutations and changes in virulence of this influenza virus, so the community should not be too worried.
Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan stated clearly that this time is the changing season, creating conditions for viral pathogens to develop, the risk of invasion and spread of pathogens is always hidden, especially in the context of increased demand for trade and tourism.
Following the complicated and unpredictable developments of infectious diseases at the same time and the guidance of the Party, State, and Government, the Ministry of Health has issued many guiding documents requesting to strengthen disease prevention measures against measles, whooping cough, and avian influenza over the past time, said Minister Dao Hong Lan.
Furthermore, she said that vaccines are available for preventing some diseases currently but infection cases are being recorded sporadically; worse, these diseases are reportedly on an upward trend. For instance, measles have been recorded in Ha Tinh, Son La, Ca Mau, Binh Thuan, and Thanh Hoa provinces whilst whooping cough occurred in Nghe An, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City.
At the same time, some endemic diseases such as hand, foot and mouth disease still recorded high incidences. Hand, foot and mouth disease increased 2.1 times compared to the same period in 2023.
