Deputy Head of Contagious Disease Ward of the National Children Hospital in Hanoi Dr. Do Thien Hai said there has been a drastic increase in the number of flu kid inpatients in the hospital lately.
Physicians found that many of them have been infected with flu but they have been taken to the hospital late and some of them have even been taking antibiotic for mistakenly diagnosed with sore throat; consequently, they were rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
Meantime, the National Tropical Disease Hospital also admitted flu adult inpatients; many of them contracted with virus A/H1N1 while some had H8N2 virus and others got B flu virus. Worse, several were in life-threatening conditions.
Following these severe cases, Director of the Tropical Diseases Hospital Professor Nguyen Van Kinh said that illnesses have developed unpredictably because of climate change. Previously, flu patients were hospitalized in cold season but today, flu is year round disease; more critically, virus strains have mutated causing bad pneumonia and risk of death.
More importantly, flu virus has resisted drugs including Tamiflu. Scientific researches have shown that the rate of resistance of Tamiflu in the Southeast Asian country is from 10 percent to 15 percent; hence physicians keep prescribe Tamiflu for flu treatment.
Medical workers said that the best way is to fully vaccinate children and adults as well as clean the environment and keep away the crowd.
People with high fever and breathing problem should stay at home and wear face masks and go to nearby clinics for treatment. Early treatment will help reduce deaths.
