Though this time is not peak season of dengue, there has been a rise in dengue cases in medical clinics compared to the same period last year, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Preventive Medicine Department.
According to the Tropical Disease hospital’s statistic, the hospital admitted around 1,690 dengue patients in January 2019, tripling that in last year. One succumbed to the disease while several have undergone dialysis.
Worse, fatal dengue hemorrhagic fever in adults left serious complications.
The Tropical Disease Hospital’s Infectious Disease Ward was overcrowded with dengue patients even in lobbies. Being treated in the infirmary for four days, 24 year old Nguyen Hoang Duy in the Mekong delta province of Bac Lieu said he returned the hometown during Tet holiday ( the Lunar New Year) and experienced fever and fatigue on February 6. He thought to catch cold; accordingly, he self- treated by buying medication for flu from local drug store.
However, his health condition didn’t abate and he experienced waves of chills; accordingly he arrived in local infirmary for examination and was diagnosed to have dengue. Later he was transferred to the city hospital. His condition is stable now.
57 year old Nguyen Ngoc Tam from the central highlands province of Dak Nong was taken to the hospital when his condition got worse. He said he suffered fever and body aches and chills.
Similar to Duy who self-treated because of thinking about seasonal flu, he bought medication for flu.
Only when his health condition got worse, he was rushed to local infirmary for treatment where he was diagnosed to have dengue.
Normally, the disease cases go down after the holiday yet this year, more cases of dengue have been admitted in the hospital, said Dr. Nguyen Thanh Phong, head of the Infectious Disease ward in the infirmary.
Two Infectious Disease wards C and D receive dengue adult patients; worse, patients averaged 50 in the D ward everyday leading to overload; accordingly, medical workers had to run off their feet during Tet holiday.
Statically, from the beginning of the year to February 10, the city had more than 6,000 dengue cases, 987 cases of measles and 386 hand-foot-and mouth cases .
The head of Infectious Disease Surveillance Ward of the city’s Preventive Medicine Department pointed out the weather change and high traveling are the culprit of leap in disease cases.
